Home Depot reported net income of $1.035 billion ($0.68 Diluted EPS) for the first quarter ended Apr 29, a 27% increase from the year-ago period. Net sales increased 5.9% to $17.808 billion, while same-store sales rose 5.8%, the 9th gain in the last 10 quarters following 14 consecutive declines. The number of customer transactions increased 3.9% to 328.9 million and average ticke rose 2.2% to $54.51 in the quarter. “We saw a stronger-than-expected start to the year, driven by record warm weather and continued demand for core products,” said Frank Blake, chairman & CEO. The company expects to open 9 new stores through the end of the year, that sales will rise 4.6% for the fiscal 2012 on low-single digit comp sales growth, with earnings per share (including share repurchases) projected to rise approximately 17% to $2.90 per share for the year, up from previous guidance of sales growth of 4.0% and earnings per share growth of 13%.