Central Garden & Pet Company Announces Fiscal 2010 First Quarter Results

Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ: CENT)(NASDAQ: CENTA) today announced results for its first quarter ended December 26, 2009.

"We continued to make progress on our core initiatives of reducing working capital, improving gross margins and controlling costs,” noted William Brown, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We reduced our investment in working capital by $98 million compared to this time last year and lowered debt by $84 million. Gross margins improved by 3.4 percentage points and in our seasonally slow garden quarter, we reduced our per share loss to less than half of year ago levels. With a stronger balance sheet, we are beginning to accelerate new product introductions and once again explore potential acquisitions.”

The Company reported net sales of $269 million in the quarter, a decline of eight percent compared to $293 million in the comparable fiscal 2009 period. The Company reported operating income of $0.5 million compared to a loss of $2.7 million in the year ago period. Net interest expense was $4.9 million compared to $6.6 million a year ago. The net loss for the quarter was $2.9 million, or $0.04 per share compared to a net loss of $6.2 million or $0.09 per share in the year ago period. Branded product sales decreased 9% percent to $220 million. Sales of other manufacturers’ products declined 2% percent to $49.2 million. Depreciation and amortization was $7.2 million compared to $7.5 million in the year ago period. The quarter ending leverage ratio was 2.6x.

Net sales for the Garden Products segment in its seasonally slow quarter were $88 million, a decrease of 18 percent from $107 million in the comparable fiscal 2009 period. The Garden Products operating loss was $6.3 million compared to a loss of $7.8 million in the year ago period. Branded product sales declined $20 million to $74 million. Sales of other manufacturers’ products increased $1 million to $14 million. Net sales for the Pet Products segment were $182 million, a decrease of two percent compared to $186 million in the year ago period. Operating income for the Pet Products segment was $17.6 million, compared to $12.9 million in the year ago period. Branded product sales were $146 million, a decrease of $2 million compared to last year. Sales of other manufacturers’ products were $36 million compared to $38 million last year.

The Company will discuss its first quarter results on a conference call today at 4:30 p.m. EST / 1:30 p.m. PST. Individuals may access the call by dialing 1-888-713-4216 and passcode 7630 9971 (domestic) or 1-617-213-4868 and passcode 7630 9971 (international). The conference call will be simultaneously broadcast over the Internet through Central’s website, http://www.central.com/ or you may link directly to the webcast on our website at http://ir.central.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=93879&p=irol-calendar. 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.

In order to simplify your registration process, you may pre-register at the following link: https://www.theconferencingservice.com/prereg/key.process?key=PEVBRKRLU . By pre-registering, you may bypass the operator and go directly to the teleconference with a unique PIN number as soon as the call begins. At the time of the call, after dialing the number and passcode mentioned above, enter your PIN for immediate access to the teleconference.

Re-play dial-in numbers for the call will be available for three weeks: 1-888-286-8010 and passcode 1504 3145 (domestic) and 1-617-801-6888 and passcode 1504 3145 (international).

Central Garden & Pet Company is a leading innovator, marketer and producer of quality branded products for the lawn & garden and pet supplies markets. We are committed to new product innovation and 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 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 ZILLA™; bird & small animal and the brands KAYTEE®, SUPER PET® and CRITTER TRAIL®; dog & cat and the brands TFH®, NYLABONE®, FOUR PAWS®, PINNACLE® and Avoderm®; and equine and the brands FARNAM®, BRONCO® and SUPER MASK®. Central Garden & Pet Company is based in Walnut Creek, California, and has approximately 4,000 employees, primarily in North America and Europe. For additional information on Central Garden & Pet Company, including access to the Company's SEC filings, please visit the Company’s website at http://www.central.com/.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts, including those relating to the new product introductions and potential acquisitions 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, filed November 20, 2009, 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.