The Home Depot has reported net earnings of $3.81bn in the third quarter (Q3) of fiscal year (FY) 2023.

This is a decrease of 12.2% from $4.33bn in the same quarter a year ago.

Basic and diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the reported quarter, which ended on 29 October 2023, stood at $3.83 and $3.81, respectively.

Net sales declined by 3% to $37.71bn in Q3 FY23 from $38.87bn registered during the same quarter last year.

The home improvement retailer said its comparable sales for Q3 dropped 3.1%, while comparable sales in the US fell 3.5%.

In Q3 2023, operating income totalled $5.40bn, representing a decrease of 12.1% from $6.14bn in Q3 2022.

Gross profit in the current year’s Q3 was down by 3.7% to $12.73bn from $13.22bn a year ago.

The Home Depot chair, president and CEO Ted Decker said: “Our quarterly performance was in line with our expectations.

“Similar to the second quarter, we saw continued customer engagement with smaller projects and experienced pressure in certain big-ticket, discretionary categories. We remain very excited about our strategic initiatives and are committed to investing in business to deliver the best interconnected shopping experience, capture wallet share with the Pro and grow our store footprint.

“In addition, our associates did an outstanding job delivering value and service for our customers throughout quarter and I would like to thank them for their dedication and hard work.”

For the full year of 2023, the retailer has estimated that its sales and comparable sales will decline between 3% and 4% compared to FY22.

The company expects its operating margin rate to range between 14.2% and 14.1% for the complete FY23.

The Home Depot ended the quarter with as many as 2,333 retail stores across all 50 states in the US, as well as in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, Mexico and ten Canadian provinces.