Wilkesboro, NC, Aug. 20—Lowe's Companies had net earnings of $329.1 million for the quarter ended August 3, a 17.7% increase over the same period a year ago. Diluted earnings per share increased 16.7% to $0.42 from $0.36 in the second quarter last year. For the six months ended August 3, net earnings grew 18.8% to $554.4 million while diluted earnings per share increased 16.4% to $0.71.

Sales for the quarter increased 16.4% to $6.13 billion, up from $5.26 billion in the second quarter last year. Comparable store sales for the second quarter increased by 1.7%. For the six months ended August 3, sales increased 17.2% to $11.40 billion. Comparable store sales decreased 0.5% in the first six months.