Home Solutions of America (NASDAQ:HSOA) was Awarded $17 Million in Contracts to Provide Construction Services in Florida

Home Solutions of America, Inc. is a provider of recovery, restoration and rebuilding and remodeling services. It’s restoration division was awarded the $17 million in contracts to provide construction services on new residential and commercial construction projects in the Tampa, Florida area for a leading regional developer.

Under the agreements, the Company will provide construction services, including design, engineering, architectural, labor and materials as well as cabinetry, granite and vanities. Work under several of the projects has already commenced. The new projects are in addition to the previously announced remediation and recovery work the Company commenced in the area last month in connection with the tornadoes that struck the Central Florida region in early February.

Home Solutions of America, Inc. is a specialty provider of recovery, restoration and rebuilding/remodeling services to commercial and residential areas that are prone to flooding, hurricanes, tornados, fires or other naturally occurring and repetitive weather related emergencies.

Government and corporate investigations of stock-option granting practices have accelerated, with many companies reporting regulatory or internal probes. Home Depot is in such a position.

A study released by professors at Harvard University, Cornell University and French business school Insead found that about 850 U.S. chief executives received backdated or otherwise manipulated stock option grants that boosted their annual pay by at least 10%, on average. The Securities and Exchange Commission is currently investigating about 140 companies in its expanding probe with more charges expected in the coming weeks, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Journal has also reported that there have been few enforcement actions because SEC commissioners are divided over penalties for backdating, though the SEC Chairman has denied it.

KB Home (KBH) on Feb. 23 said the Department of Justice notified the company it isn’t a target of the agency’s stock option grant investigation. In a regulatory filing last month, the Los Angeles company said the SEC was formally investigating its stock-option granting practices.
Earlier Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported Federal prosecutors are scrutinized options backdating at KB Home by several former executives.

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) , the world’s second largest home improvement retailer, has recently reported net earnings of $613 million for the 13-week period ended February 2, 2007, an 11.5 percent decline versus the 14-week period ended February 3, 2006. Diluted earnings per share declined 7.0 percent to $0.40 from $0.43 in the fourth quarter of 2005. For fiscal 2006, a 52-week year, net earnings grew 12.3 percent to $3.1 billion versus fiscal 2005, a 53-week year. Diluted earnings per share increased 15.0 percent to $1.99 in fiscal 2006. Read the rest of this entry  

Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, has recently announced that its board of directors approved a fourth quarter cash dividend of 22.5 cents per share. This is the 80th consecutive quarter the Company has paid a cash dividend. The dividend is payable on March 22, 2007 to shareholders of record on the close of business on March 8, 2007. Read the rest of this entry