Home Depot fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts' estimates as shoppers spent more on projects and Hurricane Sandy repairs. The company also raised its dividend and approved a $17 billion share buyback.

Net income rose 32 percent to $1.02 billion, or 68 cents a share, from $774 million, or 50 cents, a year earlier, the Atlanta-based company said Tuesday in a statement. Excluding a favorable adjustment to a charge to close stores in China, profit was 67 cents a share. Analysts projected 64 cents, the average of 24 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

Rising home values are encouraging consumers to spend more on remodeling while the repairs after Hurricane Sandy spurred demand in the Northeast. The average purchase at Home Depot, the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, rose 5.6 percent to $55.46 while the number of customer transactions increased 8.6 percent to 329.1 million, helped by an extra week in the quarter.

- Bloomberg