Central Garden & Pet’s loss widens in fourth quarter

Central Garden & Pet Company CEO John Ranelli offered a contrite response regarding the company's lack of sufficient progress in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2013.



"Our financial results are simply unacceptable," said Ranelli. "While we will see some improvements along the way, it is going to take another year or two to get our performance consistently where we want it to be. We are taking deliberate actions to improve our company's performance and achieve its true potential. We will continue to focus on putting our customers first, cutting costs, and raising profits to drive shareholder value."



The company reported net sales of $368.8 million for the quarter ended Sept. 28, down 7% on a year-over-year basis.



Meanwhile, a net loss of $22.6 million for the quarter was more than double that of 2012's fourth quarter loss.



For the full year, the company's net sales were $1.65 billion, down 3% from $1.7 billion in fiscal 2012. The net loss for the full year was $1.9 million, compared to earnings of $21.2 million in the previous year.



"We have made good progress in our Pet segment in laying the foundation for future success," added Ranelli. "However, our Garden results are disappointing. We are beginning to implement the same operating philosophies and disciplines we are instituting in our Pet segment to drive improvement in our Garden segment. Although our company's results are expected to be choppy, I am confident these improvements will drive more favorable results over the long term."