Central Garden & Pet Announces First Quarter Results and Revises Fiscal 2007 Guidance.Reports First Quarter Sales Increase of 8% to $317 Million and Loss of 12 Cents Per Share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. ; 4 Cents Per Share After Adjusting for the Stock Dividend Lowers Fiscal 2007 Sales and EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) A PostScript file format used to transfer a graphic image between applications and platforms. EPS files contain PostScript code as well as an optional preview image in TIFF, WMF, PICT or EPSI, the latter being an ASCII-only format. Outlook WALNUT CREEK Walnut Creek, residential city (1990 pop. 60,569), Contra Costa co., W Calif., in the San Francisco Bay area; inc. 1914. It is the trade and shipping center of an extensive agricultural area where walnuts are among the major product. , Calif. -- Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :CENT) today announced results for its first quarter ended December 30, 2006. The Company reported net sales Net Sales The amount a seller receives from the buyer after costs associated with the sale are deducted. Notes: This amount is calculated by subtracting the following items from gross sales: merchandise returned for credit, allowances for damaged or missing goods, freight of $317 million, an increase of 8% from $293 million in the comparable fiscal 2006 period. Income from operations for the quarter decreased 39% to $5.9 million from $9.8 million in the year ago period. The Company reported a net loss for the quarter of $3.0 million, or $0.12 per fully diluted share, compared to net income of $2.6 million, or $0.12 per fully diluted share, in the year ago period. On a post-dividend basis, the loss per share was $0.04 compared to earnings per share of $0.04 in the year ago period. Depreciation and amortization for the quarter was $6.8 million compared to $5.2 million in the year ago period. Branded product sales increased 14%. Sales of other manufacturers' products declined 11%. Organic sales decreased 3%. Net sales for the Garden Products segment were $115 million, a decrease of 8% from $126 million in the comparable fiscal 2006 period. The Garden Products operating loss operating loss The excess of operating expenses over revenue. As with operating income, operating losses exclude revenues and expenses from operations that are not considered a regular part of the business. Also called deficit. Compare operating income. was $2.1 million compared to a loss of $0.5 million in the year ago period. Branded product sales decreased 4%. Sales of other manufacturers' products declined 27%. Organic sales decreased 10%. Net sales for the Pet Products segment were $202 million, an increase of 21% from $167 million in the comparable fiscal 2006 period. Operating income Operating Income The profit realized from a business' own operations. Notes: This would not include income from things such as investments in other firms. Also referred to as operating profit or recurring profit. for the Pet Products segment was $18 million relatively unchanged from a year ago. Branded product sales increased 28%. Sales of other manufacturers' products declined 1%. Organic sales increased 3%. "Our results for the quarter are disappointing and consistent with our preannouncement on January 22. These results reflect a late quarter shift in purchases by lawn & garden retailers, lower sales and a mix shift within the pet bird and small animal categories and extraordinary increases in grain costs," noted Glenn Novotny, President and Chief Executive Officer of Central Garden & Pet. "These and certain other factors are impacting our expectations for the full fiscal year 2007, and we have revised our outlook accordingly. Other factors affecting the year include lower sales and profits in aquatics due primarily to a large retailer announcement that it will no longer sell live fish in many of its stores; execution challenges in our garden distribution operations that are being addressed aggressively; and the impact of a later than anticipated start-up of new garden manufacturing capacity due to construction delays." Net sales for fiscal 2007 are now projected to be between $1.72 and $1.75 billion. Operating income is expected to be between $144 and $150 million. Net income is expected to be between $60 and $65 million. The corresponding earnings per fully diluted share before the distribution of the special 2-for-1 Class A Common stock dividend is expected to be between $2.50 and $2.65. After the distribution of the special stock dividend, earnings per fully diluted share is expected to be between $0.83 and $0.88. This guidance does not assume any additional acquisitions. "The fundamentals of our business remain solid. We have strong leadership positions in two great industries. Our portfolio of leading brands positions us to grow the business through innovation, improved operations and strategic acquisitions," concluded Mr. Novotny. "We are focused on executing our strategic plan and committed to growing our market share and improving returns to our shareholders." The Company will discuss its first quarter results and its updated 2007 guidance on a conference call today at 4:30 p.m. EST/1:30 p.m. PST PST Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, see there . Individuals may access the call by dialing 1-866-543-6408 and passcode 93996314 (domestic) or 617-213-8899 and passcode 93996314 (international). The conference call will be simultaneously broadcast over the Internet through Central's website, http://www.central.com/. To listen to the webcast, please log on to the website prior to the scheduled call time to register and download any necessary audio software. Re-play dial-in numbers for the call will be available for three weeks: 1-888-286-8010 and passcode 99997058 (domestic) and 617-801-6888 and passcode 99997058 (international). Central Garden & Pet Company is a leading innovator, marketer and producer of quality branded products for the lawn & garden and pet supplies markets. Committed to new product innovation, our products are sold to specialty independent and mass retailers in the following categories: In Lawn & Garden: Grass seed including the brands Pennington and The Rebels; wild bird feed and the brands Pennington and Kaytee; weed and insect control and the brands AMDRO, Sevin, Ironite and Over 'N Out and; decorative outdoor patio products and the brands Norcal, New England New England, name applied to the region comprising six states of the NE United States—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The region is thought to have been so named by Capt. Pottery and Matthews Four Seasons. We also provide a host of other regional and application-specific garden brands and supplies. Pet categories include: Animal health and the brands Adams and Zodiac; aquatics and reptile and the brands Oceanic, Aqueon and RZilla; bird & small animal and the brands Kaytee, Super Pet and CritterTrail; dog & cat and the brands TFH/Nylabone, Four Paws, Pinnacle and Avoderm; and equine equine Any member of the ungulate family Equidae, which includes the modern horses, zebras, and asses, all in the genus Equus, as well as more than 60 species known only from fossils. Equines descended from the dawn horse (see Eohippus). and the brands Farnam, Bronco bronco: see mustang. and Super Mask. We also provide a host of other application-specific Pet brands and supplies. Central Garden & Pet is based in Walnut Creek, California Walnut Creek is a largely affluent suburb several miles east of Oakland in Contra Costa County, California, USA, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. While not as large as the neighboring Concord, Walnut Creek serves as the business and entertainment hub for the , and has approximately 5,000 employees, primarily in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. and Europe. For additional information on Central Garden & Pet, including access to the Company's SEC filings, please visit the Company's website at http://www.central.com/. "Safe Harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. " Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995: The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts, including future earnings guidance, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks are described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Central undertakes no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise. [TABLE OMITTED] [TABLE OMITTED] |
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