Home Depot 2002 Annual Report Download - page 4

To Our Shareholders, Customers and Associates:
2002 was a year that challenged our Company both
externally and internally. While we delivered upon a
number of commitments during the year, I am personally
disappointed in the poor performance of our stock price
and its impact on our shareholders and associates.
A Look at Our Accomplishments
Let me share with you what we did accomplish. Internally,
we continued to challenge ourselves to improve upon
everything we do and position ourselves for future growth.
While sales performance in 2002 was lower than our
original forecast, we did continue to grow market share.
For the year, we delivered revenue growth of 9%, earn-
ings per share growth of 21%, and a return on invested
capital of 18.8%. Excluding the extra week in 2001,
we experienced revenue growth of 11% and earnings
per share growth of 24%. We also ended the year with
$2.3 billion in cash and short-term investments after a
$2 billion stock repurchase and returned value to our
shareholders by increasing our quarterly dividend by
20% in the fourth quarter.
During the year, our Company underwent unprece-
dented change that, while disruptive to our customers
and our stores, was necessary as part of our ongoing
transformation. We were not deterred by a turbulent
economy and conflicting indicators that ranged from a
booming housing market to the lowest consumer con-
fidence in 10 years, nor were we deterred by global
conflict. We stayed on strategy by opening 203 new
stores, adding approximately 40,000 new jobs, and
making significant investments in merchandising resets
and information technology.
We also invested more than 19 million hours in
our associates, including our first-ever learning and
development forums for every store manager and
district manager in the Company, which resulted in
alignment, commitment and enthusiasm for driving
our business. In addition, we introduced new leader-
ship programs to recruit new talent and develop our
existing talent. Our Store Leadership Program gives
new high-potential leaders the opportunity to rotate
through four challenging assignments prior to assum-
ing a store leadership role. Other development programs
for leaders include our Executive Leadership Program,
Accelerated Leadership Program, Business Leadership
Program and Leadership Development Rotation. These
initiatives are designed to help us build our leadership
pipeline and successfully manage our growth with
great talent.
CHAIRMAN’S LETTER
2
Each Store Manager and District Manager recently attended a weeklong Learning Forum designed to enhance their leadership skills. Here,
at our Annual Managers’ Meetings, they were briefed on Company plans and priorities to ensure alignment across the organization.