No. 2 U.S. home improvement chain Lowe's Cos Inc reported a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit, hurt by a slow start to the spring selling season.

Net income fell to $461 million, or 34 cents a share, in the first quarter ended April 29, from $489 million, or 34 cents a share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 36 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales fell 1.6 percent to $12.19 billion, missing the analysts' average estimate of $12.52 billion.

(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)