Home improvements drive strong sales at Home Depot

Atlanta-based Home Depot reported steady growth of transactions for its DIY and pro customers in third quarter 2015, leading the way to net sales of $21.8 billion, up 6.4% from the same quarter last year.



Net earnings for the world's largest home improvement retailer jumped 12.2% to $1.725 billion.



"During the quarter, we saw broad-based growth across our geographies and product categories, led by growth in transactions from both our DIY and pro customers," said Craig Menear, CEO and president.



Comparable store sales for the third quarter were positive 5.1%. Among U.S. stores, comps were positive 7.3%.



The results included a pretax expense of $20 million related to Home Depot's 2014 data breach.



At the end of the quarter, Home Depot operated 2,273 stores.



Other financial highlights:



• Number of customer transactions: 371.1 million, up 4.4%;

• Average ticket: $58.03, up 0.8%; and

• Sales per square foot: $366.37, up 5.3%.



For the full year, Home Depot now expects sales growth of about 5.7%, with comps of about 4.9% -- both figures are near the high end of previous guidance.