LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - US home improvement company, Lowe's announced its first quarter earnings had fallen short of analysts' expectations despite considerable momentum in the North American housing sector.
Sales in the three months leading up to 4 August rose 6.8% to $18.26bn from the $19.49bn it reported at the same time last, year but still managed to fall short of the $19.55bn forecast from analysts.

Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.57 for the quarter, a year-on-year improvement that also failed to meet the consensus estimate of $1.62 a share.

The group's net earnings were $1.48bn over the period covered in the report, a 20.9% increase compared to the $1.2bn it had shown on 29 July 2016.

"While our results were below our expectations in the first half of this year, the team remains focused on making the necessary investments to improve the customer experience and drive sales. This includes amplifying our consumer messaging and incremental customer-facing hours in our stores which will put pressure on our operating margin. We believe this is the right strategy to more fully capitalize on strong traffic trends in what we believe is a supportive macroeconomic backdrop for home improvement," chief executive Robert A Niblock said.

During the quarter, the company repurchased $1.25bn worth of stock under its share repurchase programme, paying out total dividends of $299m over the three months.

As of 1530 BST, shares had slipped 5.30% to $71.80.

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