Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ: CENT) reported Q4 EPS of $0.04, $0.13 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.17. Revenue for the quarter came in at $540.74 million versus the consensus estimate of $517 million.

Fourth Quarter Non-GAAP Operating Income, Net Earnings and EPS

• Non-GAAP results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018 exclude a favorable tax impact of $5.1 million from the revaluation of the Company\'s deferred tax accounts;
• Non-GAAP net income decreased to $2.4 million from $5.4 million in the fourth quarter a year ago;
• Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share decreased to $0.04 from $0.10 in the fourth quarter a year ago; and
• EBITDA decreased $6.2 million, or 20.2%, to $24.4 million compared to the fourth quarter a year ago.

Tim Cofer, Central Garden & Pet's new Chief Executive Officer said, “My early days at Central have strengthened my conviction that Central is well-positioned as a leader in the pet and garden industries. One of my observations is that we have opportunities to enhance our position by investing more in demand creation capabilities and initiatives to drive long-term sustainable profitable growth.”

Mr. Cofer continued, “These investments, while dampening our earnings growth rate in fiscal 2020, are expected to yield meaningful benefits in the years ahead. Over the next several months - informed by further conversations with all our stakeholders - I will be working with our team to build upon the current Central strategy and make adjustments where appropriate. I look forward to sharing the details of that plan in the spring.” Cofer concluded, “We have great brands, strong leadership, talented people and a dynamic entrepreneurial culture. I could not be more excited about the opportunities ahead.”

Commenting on the results for fiscal 2019, Niko Lahanas, CFO of Central Garden & Pet said, “We continue to feel confident about the fundamentals of our underlying businesses. A number of factors unfavorably impacted our performance in fiscal 2019, some of which may continue into 2020. The timing of the 2018 acquisition of the highly-seasonal Bell Nursery business, the underperformance of our animal health businesses, impacted by unfavorable weather and other factors, a higher amount of receivables and inventory write-offs, and a higher number of shares outstanding, all negatively impacted results versus the prior year.”

Mr. Lahanas continued, “Our focus on working capital has yielded encouraging results, with our cash from operations increasingly significantly year-over-year.”

GUIDANCE:

Central Garden & Pet sees Q1 2020 EPS of ($0.15)-($0.10).

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Central Garden & Pet (CENT) click here.