Three big stats from Home Depot’s Q4

The world’s largest home improvement retailer released its fourth quarter results in late February. Three stats that stand out as worthy of a second look are explained below. For more, visit HBSDealer.com

$47.2 billion: That’s the amount of new business The Home Depot generated in the past three years, growing from $110.2 billion in sales to $157.4 billion. “This growth reflects factors unique to home improvement as homeowners spent more time in their homes and took on more projects as they saw their homes significantly increase in value over that period,” said CEO Ted Decker.

Negative 0.3 percent:

Depot posted its first negative comp-store sales performance since the first quarter of 2011. “In the third quarter we noted some deceleration in certain products and categories, which was more pronounced in the fourth quarter,” said Decker. “This, along with a negative impact from lumber deflation, led to fourth quarter comps that were slightly softer than anticipated.”

$1 billion:

The additional amount Home Depot said it will invest in annualized compensation for frontline, hourly associates. The new wage scale went into effect on Feb. 6. “The most important investment we can make is in our people,” Decker said.