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Investing.com - The largest U.S. home improvement retailer Home Depot reported better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings, despite missing on revenue figures, it announced early Tuesday.
Home Depot said adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.73 cents in the final three months of 2013, above expectations for adjusted earnings of $0.71 cents per share.
The company’s fourth quarter revenue totaled $17.7 billion, missing forecasts for revenue of $17.91 billion.
Global comparable store sales increased 4.4% in the fourth quarter, while U.S. comp sales rose 4.9%.
Sales for fiscal year 2013 were $78.8 billion, an increase of 5.4% from fiscal year 2012. Total company comparable store sales for fiscal year 2013 increased 6.8%, and comp sales for U.S. stores were positive 7.5% for the year.
"In 2013, we posted our strongest comp sales growth in 14 years as solid execution and the recovering housing market aided our performance," said Frank Blake, chairman & CEO.
The company also announced that its board of directors declared a 21% increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.47 cents per share.
Following the release of the report, Home Depot shares rallied 1% in pre-market trade, before paring gains to trade little changed.
Meanwhile, the outlook for U.S. equity markets was mildly lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a loss of 0.15% at the open, S&P 500 futures lost 0.15%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a decline of 0.1% at the open.