HomeBase’s Net Income Up; Sales Down 6%

HomeBase Inc., Irvine operator of 84 home improvement warehouses, said net income for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30 totaled $414,000, or 1 cent a share, contrasted with a net loss of $3.9 million, or 10 cents a share, for the corresponding prior-year period. Sales were down 6% to $309 million from $328 million. Same store sales increased 2%.

Net income for the year was $22.4 million, or 54 cents a share. In the previous year, the company earned $11.2 million, or 31 cents a share. The company said net income is not directly comparable because of changes to its capital structure and nonrecurring charges related to the spin-off of BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. on July 28, 1997. Sales fell 7% to $1.4 billion from $1.5 billion.