By Dean Seal
ScottsMiracle-Gro logged lower sales in its key selling season but a bigger profit as lower costs boosted its margins.
The maker of lawn-care products posted a profit of $217.5 million, or $3.72 a share, in the fiscal second quarter that ended March 29. That's up from $157.5 million, or $2.74 a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.
Stripping out one-time items, adjusted earnings were $3.98 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been expecting $3.93 a share.
Sales were down 7% at $1.42 billion, below analyst forecasts for $1.49 billion, according to FactSet.
Revenue from Scotts' U.S. consumer business was down 5% at $1.31 billion due to a colder and slower start to the lawn and garden season, which pushed some expected sales into the current quarter.
Sales in its Hawthorne Gardening business, which caters to cannabis growers, were down 51% at $32.7 million. The company said it would stop providing full-year revenue guidance for the segment due to continuing uncertainty in the cannabis industry. Scotts has said it plans to separate from the Hawthorne business.
Despite the sales shortfall, Scotts increased its gross margin with lower material, manufacturing and distribution costs, along with stronger product and segment mix.
Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 30, 2025 07:23 ET (11:23 GMT)
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