Walnut Creek, Calif. — After being stressed by delayed orders in the second quarter (GM May 14, p. 13), Central Garden & Pet reported better results for the third quarter ending June 23, 2012. Net income attributable to the company increased 33 percent to $22.7 million ($0.47 per diluted share) on sales of $533.8 million, compared to the year-ago $17.1 million ($0.31 per share) on sales of $484.3 million. While the Garden segment only saw sales growth of 2 percent compared to 19 percent for the Pet segment, Garden operating income was up 26 percent, to $22.6 million from the year-ago $18 million. Garden sales were up $5.5 million to $262.5 million, mainly due to stronger chemical and control sales, both up double digits. Commodity costs continue to be a problem, and the company did pass on price increases to customers this year. Having already gained significant market share in grass seed, President Gus Halas told analysts that in a down market it continued to grow market share, even when faced with an advertising blitz from a major competitor. He said the company also gained share in its controls business. Company-wide, nine-month results were still behind at $31.2 million ($0.65 per share) on sales of $1.3 billion, versus the year-ago $39.2 million ($0.68 per share) on sales of $1.25 billion. In the meantime the company continues to streamline, expecting to close eight locations this year out of 66. So far this year it has reduced employees from 4,300 to 3,800.
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