Marysville, Ohio-Full-year reported income at Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. was off 13 percent, with the company saying the primary reason was higher interest expense associated with the company’s recapitalization in February. Also cited was bad weather in April, which is the most important month for fertilizer purchases for Scotts. The company said purchases of lawn fertilizer were off 1 percent. Company-wide, however, sales were up 6 percent. Net income for the year ending Sept. 30, 2007, was $115.8 million ($1.73 per diluted share) on sales of $2.87 billion, versus the prior year’s $132.7 million ($1.91 per share) and $2.7 billion. For the fourth quarter, Scotts saw a 1 percent decline in sales in its North America consumer business. All other units were up. The fourth quarter saw a loss of $37.9 million ($.59 per share) on sales of $508.9 million, versus the year-ago loss of $42.7 million ($.64 per share) on sales of $492.1 million.
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