Home Depot 3Q Profit Drops

Home Depot, the nation‘s largest home improvement store chain, blamed a slowing housing market as it reported a 3.1 % drop in third-quarter 2006 profit on a marked decline in sales at stores open at least a year. The company also lowered its earnings per share and sales growth guidance for the year.

The company blamed a slowing economy, declining home prices and slowing housing turnover.