Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., Marysville, Ohio, reported net income of $310.2 million ($5.43 per diluted share) on sales of $1.83 billion for the second-quarter ending April 3, 2021, up from the year-ago $252.4 million ($4.47 per share) and $1.38 billion, respectively.
“The record level of consumer demand we have seen for our lawn and garden products is greater than we expected and may provide upside to the updated guidance we provided for our U.S. Consumer business in early April,” said Jim Hagedorn, Chairman and CEO. “Consumers told us entering the season that they intended to stay engaged with lawn and garden and, so far, that is exactly what they are doing. Retailer support for the category remains strong as we enter a period of challenging year-over-year comparisons.”
“The margin pressure we are experiencing from higher commodity and distribution costs is expected again in the third quarter and should begin to moderate with year-over-year pricing that takes effect in the fourth quarter,” said Cory Miller, Senior Vice President and Interim CFO. “Given cost pressures and other investments necessary to keep pace with recent growth trends, we have communicated to our retail partners our intention to increase prices of our consumer lawn and garden products by mid- to high-single digits effective in August. A similar price increase was implemented at Hawthorne in recent weeks.”
Six-month net income was $335.3 million ($5.87 per share) on net sales of $2.58 billion, up from the year-ago $181.1 million ($3.19 per share) and $1.75 billion, respectively.