Home Depot builds larger profit numbers

The Home Depot said a nearly 39 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit was proof its strategy to pump billions into retraining employees, improving customer service and renovating its stores was working.

The chief of the nation’s largest home improvement store chain also indicated he was not worried about changes in the economy or housing markets.

The earnings, announced Tuesday, beat Wall Street expectations and grew faster than the quarterly profit reported a day earlier by its chief rival, Lowe’s Cos. Inc.

Home Depot said it earned $951 million, or 42 cents a share, for the three months ended Feb. 1 compared to a profit of $686 million, or 30 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.

Economy

Consumer confidence sinks on job concerns

Consumer confidence tumbled in February amid persistent worries about the job market.

The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index dropped more than nine points to 87.3. January’s 96.4 was the index’s highest reading since mid-2002.

Analysts had expected a decline, but the index still came in well below their forecast of 92.3.

“A lot of it has to do with the labor market,” said Scott Hoyt, director of consumer economics for Economy.com, a forecasting firm in West Chester, Pa. “We’re not seeing the kind of pickup in jobs that consumers had originally expected.”

K.C.-based H&R Block reports drop in earnings

H&R Block Inc.’s third-quarter profit fell 19 percent, largely because of lower mortgage-asset sales than in the previous year.

The Kansas City, Mo.-based tax preparer reported earnings of $106.7 million, or 59 cents per share, for the quarter that ended Jan. 31. That compared with earnings of $132.3 million, or 73 cents per share, for the third quarter of 2003.

H&R Block reiterated its 2004 earnings estimate of $3.65 to $3.85 per share and again stated that it expected “a good but not great” tax season.

While the tax season started slowly for the company, H&R Block said that tax filing accelerated in February and it was on track to meet its overall targets for the year.

Mark A. Ernst, chairman and chief executive, pointed to the unemployment rate and the number of people who simply have given up looking for jobs, saying that translates into fewer people filing income tax returns.