Boosted by acquisitions in distribution, The
Home Depot, Atlanta, GA, had $81.5 billion in sales in 2005, an 11.5% increase
over fiscal year 2004. Comparable store sales grew 3.8%.

The
Home Depot Supply represented about 5%, or $4.08 billion, of Home Depot's sales
in 2005. The supply division saw triple-digit growth in 2005, strengthening its
position in MRO, builder and professional supply platforms.

Acquisitions in the fourth quarter
of 2005 included:

• 
  Southwest Rebar, a rebar
  fabricator and construction supply distributor with three locations in
  Arizona.  With Southwest Rebar,
  White Cap Construction Supply now operates 103 branches in 23 states.
  
• 
  Traditional Floor Covering, a
  flooring installer with four locations in Florida.   With Traditional Floor Covering,
  Creative Touch Interiors now operates 37 branches in 14 states and sells to 18
  of the top 20 home builders.
  
• 
  Sesco/Quesco Electric Supply,
  an 80-year old distributor of electrical supplies with four locations in
  Toronto, Ontario. With Sesco/Quesco Electric Supply, the MRO companies operate
  206 branches in 45 states and provinces in the United States and
  Canada.

In
January 2006, Home Depot announced its intent to acquire Hughes Supply, a $4.4
billion distributor of construction and repair products. Hughes Supply will more
than double the size of Home Depot Supply, with projected 2006 combined sales
approaching $12 billion. The acquisition is anticipated to close in
April.

For
the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005, The Home Depot overall saw net earnings of
$1.3 billion, compared with net earnings of $1 billion reported for the same
period in fiscal 2004. Sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005 totaled $19.5
billion, a 15.9% increase from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004. Comparable
store sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005 increased 5.5%.

For
fiscal 2005, HD had net earnings of $5.8 billion, compared with net earnings of
$5 billion in fiscal 2004.

At the
end of fiscal 2005, The Home Depot reported total assets of $44 billion and a
return on invested capital of 22.4%, up 90 basis points from the prior
year.

Related Stories:
href="/stories/homedepot3602.html" target=_blank>What's Home Depot's
Impact?
href="/pub/1_1/breaking-news/2975-1.html" target=_blank>Home Depot Supply Aims for $23-$27B by 2010
href="/pub/1_1/breaking-news/2958-1.html" target=_blank>The
Home Depot to Buy Hughes Supply for $3.4B
href="/stories/hughes3521.html" target=_blank>Hughes and
Home Depot?
href="/issues/35_21/perspective/2880-1.html" target=_blank> Commentary: Rumor mill well fed with Hughes-Home Depot
talk
href="/pub/1_1/breaking-news/2890-1.html" target=_blank> Hughes Supply Profit Up 35% in 3Q
<
The Home Depot to Acquire National
Waterworks
href="/issues/35_14/perspective/2746-1.html" target=_blank> Commentary: Home Depot points bigger guns at MRO
channels
href="/issues/34_16/perspective/2297-1.html" target=_blank>
Commentary: Next Wave of Consolidation
Ahead?
Home Depot Subsidiary White Cap Acquires Greenwald
Supply
The Home Depot Canada to Acquire Litemor
Distributors
The Home Depot to Acquire White Cap
href="/issues/31_19/news/1075-1.html" target=_blank>The
Home Depot to Acquire Plumbing
Distributor