Central Garden & Pet takes stock of the year

"We increased non-GAAP earnings per share, continued to expand margins, made significant progress on our Cost and Simplicity programme, and generated strong profits in our pet segment and record cash flow for the company. We did this despite continued weak demand in our pet segment and a challenging garden season," said Niko Lahanas, Central Garden & Pet's new CEO, in reviewing the 2024 results. The California-based company reported a decline in its pet business for the fiscal year.

Pet segment net sales were 1.83 bn dollars compared to 1.88 bn dollars last year, a decrease of 2 per cent. Organic net sales in the petcare segment declined 6 per cent. Net sales in the garden segment were 1.37 bn dollars compared with 1.43 bn dollars in the previous year, a decrease of 5 per cent. Organic net sales in the garden segment decreased by 1 per cent.

Adjusted EBITDA was 334 mio dollars compared to 343 mio dollars last year.

The 2024 financial results show that net sales were 3.2 bn dollars compared to 3.3 bn dollars last year, a decrease of 3 per cent. Nevertheless, CEO Lahanas is upbeat about the future of the 40-year-old company: "While we expect the external environment to remain challenging, I am confident that we have the right strategy and people in place to deliver profitable growth in fiscal 2025 and over the long term."