Lowe's 2012 Annual Report Download - page 3

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 3 of the 2012 Lowe's annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 88

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88

Shareholder Letter
Great customer experiences start with our associates, whether they
interact with customers face-to-face or work tirelessly behind the
scenes to simplify the complex business of home improvement. And
together, Lowe’s associates are building better home improvement
experiences. We’ve laid the foundation to transform our core business
over the past two years, and we will continue our efforts in 2013 and
beyond. We expect to generate compelling returns for shareholders
as we further align our people, processes and financial resources to
provide better home improvement experiences.
2012 PERFORMANCE
We delivered solid performance in 2012. Comparable store sales grew 1.4% and total sales
grew 0.6% to $50.5 billion. Net earnings increased by 6.5% to $2.0 billion and diluted earnings
per share increased 18.2% to $1.69. Operating cash flows, along with the net issuance of
$1.4 billion of long-term debt, were used to acquire $1.2 billion in fixed assets and return
$5.1 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.
OUR PROGRESS
Our transformation is centered on the customer. In the inspiration phase of a project, customers
realize they want to change something about their home whether it’s a room, their home’s
exterior or their yard. They are looking for assistance, recommendations and solutions. With
the breadth of products and services we offer and the support of our distribution and tech-
nology platforms, we have a unique opportunity to make home improvement simpler and to
seamlessly meet customer needs across selling channels. When done well, we expect to unlock
consumer demand that has been contained by real or perceived barriers to starting projects.
Even as we redefine our business to become more seamless and simple, we must also protect
retail relevance, keeping what customers love about us and constantly improving our retail
operations. We expect to improve our performance by offering more intuitive line designs
Lowe’s Companies, Inc. 2012 Annual Report page 1
Robert A. Niblock
Chairman of the Board, President
and Chief Executive Officer