Marysville, Ohio-The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. reported a 33 percent increase in net income for the second quarter ending March 28, 2009, to $77.4 million ($1.18 per diluted share) on sales of $960.1 million, versus the year-ago $58 million ($.88 per share) and $958.0 million. While overall sales were about flat, those for Scotts’s largest unit, global consumer, were up 4 percent. “In the face of a deteriorating economy, the lawn and garden category continues to show its resiliency, and we continue to see the power of our brands,” said Jim Hagedorn, Scotts president and CEO. “The strong level of consumer demand in the category now gives us confidence that adjusted earnings will be in the upper half of our guidance of $2.10-$2.30 per share. While it’s still early, we could see upside to our projections if current trends in the core business continue throughout the balance of the lawn and garden season. The results so far in April are encouraging, as the past two weeks have each resulted in record levels of consumer purchases of our products at our major retail partners in the U.S.” Six-month net income was $20.4 million ($.31 per share) on sales of $1.28 billion, up from the year-ago $1.2 million ($.02 per share) and $1.27 billion.
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