Home Depot 2007 Annual Report Download - page 15

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT PURSUANT TO THE
PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
Certain statements regarding our future performance made in this report are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may relate
to such matters as net sales growth, comparable store sales, impact of cannibalization, state of the residential construction and housing markets,
state of the home improvement market, commodity price inflation and deflation, implementation of store initiatives, continuation of reinvestment
plans, protection of intellectual property rights, net earnings performance, earnings per share, stock-based compensation expense, store openings
and closures, capital allocation and expenditures, liquidity, the effect of adopting certain accounting standards, return on invested capital,
management of our purchasing or customer credit policies, the planned recapitalization of the Company, timing of the completion of such
recapitalization, the ability to issue debt securities on terms and at rates acceptable to us and the demand for our products and services.
Forward-looking statements are based on currently available information and our current assumptions, expectations and projections about future
events. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to future events, risks and
uncertainties – many of which are beyond our control or are currently unknown to us – as well as potentially inaccurate assumptions, that could
cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. Some of the material risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections are described in Item 1A, "Risk Factors." You should read such
information in conjunction with "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Item 7 and our
Financial Statements and related notes in Item 8. We note such information for investors as permitted by the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. There also may be other factors that we cannot anticipate or that are not described in this report, generally because we do not
perceive them to be material. Such factors could cause results to differ materially from our expectations.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update such statements. You are advised,
however, to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission
("SEC").
PART I
Item 1. Business.
Introduction
The Home Depot, Inc. is the world's largest home improvement retailer and the second largest retailer in the United States ("U.S."), based on Net
Sales for the fiscal year ended February 3, 2008 ("fiscal 2007"). As of the end of fiscal 2007, we were operating 2,234 stores, most of which are
The Home Depot stores.
The Home Depot stores sell a wide assortment of building materials, home improvement and lawn and garden products and provide a number of
services. The Home Depot stores average approximately 105,000 square feet of enclosed space, with approximately 23,000 additional square
feet of outside garden area. As of the end of fiscal 2007, we had 2,193 The Home Depot stores located throughout the U.S. (including the
territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam), Canada, China and Mexico. In addition, at the end of fiscal 2007, the Company
operated 34 EXPO Design Center stores, two THD Design Center stores and five Yardbirds stores.
On August 30, 2007, we closed the sale of HD Supply. We received net proceeds of $8.3 billion and recognized a loss of $4 million, net of tax,
for the sale of the business. In connection with the sale, we purchased a 12.5% equity interest in the newly formed HD Supply for $325 million
and guaranteed a $1.0 billion senior secured loan of HD Supply.
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