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New CEO will take helm of Lowe's as it comes off comparable sales miss

Lowe's Cos. Inc. blamed winter weather for a fiscal first-quarter comparable sales miss as the company prepares to bring in its new CEO — a veteran of rival home improvement chain Home Depot Inc.

J.C. Penney CEO Marvin Ellison will become Lowe's CEO on July 2, succeeding Robert Niblock who has held the titles of CEO and chairman for the last 13 years.

Ellison, who recently resigned as chairman of J.C. Penney Co. Inc., previously held various executive positions at Lowe's larger competitor, Home Depot, including a stint as executive vice president of U.S. stores. He is credited with growing Home Depot's "pro" business that serves contractors and shifting stores toward more customer-facing environments. Ellison will leave his role as J.C. Penney's CEO on June 1.

Niblock, on his final conference call with analysts May 23, said Ellison will review the company's strategy, particularly where the company has already "outlined opportunities for improvement." One of those areas includes growing Lowe's pro business, which Niblock said remains at about 30% of the business.

"I think he'll want to dive in and be able to add his thoughts to what the team's already working on to see how we can continue to make progress," Niblock said.

Ellison will inherit the company as it comes off an earnings miss. Comparable store sales, a key metric for Lowe's during what should be a busy spring remodeling season, inched up 0.6% in the fiscal first quarter ended May 4. That is a wide miss from the 3.05% growth expected by analysts, according to the mean consensus estimate compiled by S&P Capital IQ.

Niblock pointed to a long winter weather season for the miss. He said customers delayed their home improvement projects, which pressured comparable store sales by about 300 basis points, especially in strongly seasonal categories including lawn and garden.

With winter weather subsiding, Niblock said the second half of spring is picking up momentum.

"Spring has finally arrived, and comps in May are double-digit positive," he said.