The Home Depot Awards Hourly Associates a One-Time Tax Reform Bonus; Comments on Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017

ATLANTA, Jan. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, The Home Depot® announced plans to provide a new one-time cash bonus for U.S. hourly associates of up to $1,000 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017.  The bonus will be paid in addition to the Company's longstanding Success Sharing bonuses for hourly associates.

"We are pleased to be able to provide this additional reward to our associates for continuing to deliver outstanding customer service," said Craig Menear, Chairman, CEO and President. "This incremental investment in our associates was made possible by the new tax reform bill."

The Company also announced that it currently estimates that the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 will result in additional net tax expense of approximately $150 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 primarily related to taxes on unremitted offshore earnings.  This charge, coupled with the one-time bonus payment, is expected to negatively impact the Company's previously provided fiscal 2017 diluted earnings-per-share guidance by approximately $0.19.

For fiscal 2018, the Company is still evaluating all the provisions of the tax reform legislation and currently estimates that the net impact of tax reform on its 2018 tax provision and cash taxes paid will be beneficial.  Amid the changing retail environment, the Company intends to invest in its associates, its stores and the customer experience.  The Company will provide full year guidance for fiscal 2018 on its fourth quarter/full-year 2017 earnings call on February 20, 2018.

The Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer, with 2,284 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico.  In fiscal 2016, The Home Depot had sales of $94.6 billion and earnings of $8.0 billion. The Company employs more than 400,000 associates.  The Home Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange HD and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index.

Certain statements contained herein constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may relate to, among other things, the demand for our products and services; net sales growth; comparable store sales; effects of competition; state of the economy; state of the residential construction, housing and home improvement markets; implementation of store, interconnected retail, supply chain and technology initiatives; net earnings performance; earnings per share; capital allocation and expenditures; liquidity; return on invested capital; the effect of accounting charges; the effect of adopting certain accounting standards; guidance for fiscal 2017 and beyond; financial outlook; and the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 on our business and financial results. Forward-looking statements are based on currently available information and our current assumptions, expectations and projections about future events. You should not rely on our forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and 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. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to those described in Item 1A, "Risk Factors," and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year ended January 29, 2017 and in our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update these statements other than as required by law. You are advised, however, to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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SOURCE The Home Depot