Home Depot CEO says no plans to go private

Home Depot Chairman and Chief Executive Frank Blake in an undated file photo. Blake said on Wednesday the home improvement retailer plans to remain a publicly owned company.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - The chairman and chief executive of Home Depot Inc. (HD.N) said on Wednesday the home improvement retailer plans to remain a publicly owned company.

"We're not thinking about going private," Frank Blake told a breakfast meeting of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. "We're very pleased with the capital structure we have."

As recently as December, some media reports speculated that private equity buyers were interested in pursuing Home Depot, which had come under pressure because of weakening profits and sales and criticism of its corporate governance policies.

Blake, named to the top job when former CEO Robert Nardelli resigned earlier this year, also said the full board of directors would attend the 2007 annual meeting on May 24 in Atlanta. Some shareholders were upset when board members skipped last year's annual meeting.

"We're going to spend the time we need to spend to address our shareholders' concerns," said Blake.

Blake also said that Home Depot had no plans to move its headquarters from Atlanta, and added that the maturing company had cut back its store growth.

He said Home Depot's store square-footage growth would roughly match its market growth at about 5 percent, down from double-digit percentages as recently as two years ago.

He also said Home Depot was looking to improve its logistics by expanding regionalized distribution of goods.

Home Depot, under pressure as rival Lowe's Cos. (LOW.N) looks to expand to bigger U.S. cities, Mexico and Canada, is planning to invest billions this year to recruit skilled workers and maintain older stores in a bid to win back market share.

The CEO reiterated that 2007 will be a tough year because of weakness in the U.S. housing market. Home sales and construction are major drivers of home improvement spending.

Home Depot said last month that per-share earnings could fall as much as 9 percent this year.

"We track residential investment spending as a percentage of GDP, we look at mortgage equity withdrawal, and that's why we've been on the cautious side in terms of 2007," Blake said after the meeting.

Home Depot shares were off 57 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $36.78, while Lowe's was down 43 cents, or 1.4 percent, at $30.31. Home Depot's stock is down about 8 percent so far this year, while Lowe's is down 1 percent.