The Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, today reported first quarter of fiscal 2011 net earnings of$812 million, or$0.50per diluted share, compared with net earnings of$725 million, or$0.43per diluted share, in the same period of fiscal 2010. For the first quarter of fiscal 2011, diluted earnings per share increased 16.3 percent from the prior year.

Sales for the first quarter totaled$16.8 billion, a 0.2 percent decrease from the first quarter of fiscal 2010. Comparable store sales for the first quarter were negative 0.6 percent, and comp sales for U.S. stores were negative 0.7 percent.

"We continued to improve our business and delivered double-digit earnings growth," saidFrank Blake, chairman & CEO. "Our sales declined slightly due to a slow spring selling season, but for the year we expect sales to grow in line with the guidance we previously provided. We will maintain our focus on providing great customer service and product and project values. I would like to thank our associates for their hard work and dedication."

Updated Fiscal 2011 Guidance

The Company confirmed that it expects fiscal 2011 sales will be up approximately 2.5 percent from fiscal 2010. Based on its year-to-date performance, the Company raised its fiscal 2011 diluted earnings-per-share guidance and now expects diluted earnings per share to be up approximately 11.4 percent to$2.24for the year. This earnings-per-share guidance includes the benefit of the Company's year-to-date share repurchases, but excludes the impact of future share repurchases.

The Home Depot will conduct a conference call today at9 a.m. ETto discuss information included in this news release and related matters. The conference call will be available in its entirety through a webcast and replay at earnings.homedepot.com.

At the end of the first quarter, the Company operated a total of 2,245 retail stores in all 50 states, theDistrict of Columbia,Puerto Rico,U.S. Virgin Islands,Guam, 10 Canadian provinces,MexicoandChina. The Company employs more than 300,000 associates. The Home Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index.