Net Income Rises 23% at Home Depot

Home Depot Inc. said Tuesday that fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 23%, the biggest gain in two years, on sales of refrigerators, washing machines and kitchen cabinets.

Net income climbed to $1.29 billion, or 60 cents a share in the quarter ended Jan. 29, exceeding analysts’ estimates. Year-earlier profit was $1.04 billion, or 47 cents a share. Sales rose 16% to $19.5 billion, Atlanta-based Home Depot said.

Sales at stores open at least a year, a key measure of retail health, gained 5.5% as U.S. consumers remodeled kitchens and bathrooms. Chief Executive Robert Nardelli also boosted the company’s service business 21% in 2005, with professionals installing countertops, roofs, gutters and air-conditioning systems for homeowners.

For the year, net income climbed 17% to $5.84 billion, or $2.72 a share, beating analysts’ estimates. Sales gained 12% to $81.5 billion.

The company affirmed its forecast that annual sales would grow as much as 17% in the next five years and earnings per share would rise as much as 14%.

Shares of Home Depot rose 1 cent to $41.87.