Thanks to fewer charges resulting from strict outflow management, the world's biggest home-improvement retailer Home Depot Inc's (HD) has posted a 44.4 percent first-quarter net income growth, thereby surpassing the analysts' estimates.

HD reported a $514 million net income and earnings of 30 cents per share, as against the same-quarter year-before figures of $356 million net income and earnings of 21 cents per share; beating the analysts' view of 28 cents per share earnings.

In the Atlanta-based HD's earnings release, Chairman and CEO Frank Blake said: "Our markets - and the consumer in general - remain under pressure. But we continue to make progress on improving our business as evidenced by stronger customer satisfaction ratings."

The company's first-quarter sales plunged 9.7 percent to $16.2 billion, while the average customer ticket fell 8.2 percent to $52.67. During the quarter, Home Depot operated 2,238 retail stores - 1,973 in the US, 178 in Canada, 75 in Mexico and
12 in China.

With the closure of Home Depot's EXPO businesses, a $117 million in costs were included in the company's first quarter; in the first quarter last year, the results included $543 million in charges, related to the company's store rationalization plan.