Marysville, Ohio
October 30,  2001

EPS of $2.10 before restructuring and other charges
Fiscal year 2001 highlights
- Sales reach record $1.75 billion
- Through August, overall market share in the U.S. lawn and garden category climbed to 52 percent
- 4 percent increase in North American consumer sales
- Cash earnings per diluted share of $2.91


The Scotts Company (NYSE: SMG) today reported fiscal 2001 earnings of $63.7 million before restructuring and other charges, or $2.10 per diluted share, compared to $2.47 per share a year
earlier. Last year's per diluted share results exclude a 22-cent non-recurring reduction in EPS from the early conversion of preferred stock.

Cash earnings for 2001, defined as net earnings before restructuring and other charges plus amortization, were $2.91 per diluted share. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) before restructuring and other charges was $255.7 million, compared with $271.2 million in the prior year.

Global revenue for the year increased 2 percent from a year ago to a record $1.75 billion. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange rates, revenue climbed by 4 percent.

"We had a number of success stories during 2001," said James Hagedorn, president and chief executive officer. "Although our financial results fell short of our initial expectations, we continued to gain market share in the overall U.S. lawn and garden category. Through August, the biggest gain was in grass seed, where we now have 41 percent market share, a 14-point increase from last year. We also continued to leverage the power of the Scotts brand with the successful growth of Scotts Lawn Service. As we enter fiscal year 2002 we are both optimistic and energized by our prospects for continued growth."

For the fourth quarter ended September 30, 2001, Scotts reported a net loss of $28.4 million before restructuring and other charges, or $1.00 per share, compared with a net loss of $12.4 million, or 44 cents per share, for the same period a year ago. Sales in the quarter were $248.3 million, up from $247.6 million a year ago.

Earnings for fiscal year 2001 exclude restructuring and other charges of $75.7 million, $59.7 million of which was recognized in the fourth quarter. The restructuring will allow Scotts to streamline its cost structure by reducing overhead costs and maximizing efficiencies within the supply chain. This effort is the Company's first major step to improve return on invested capital (ROIC) to 13.5 percent.

"We made some tough decisions in 2001 that will allow us to reduce expenses by about $30 million in 2002," Hagedorn said. "These were not emergency cost-cutting efforts, but rather part of a longer term plan to add economic value by improving profitability."

The Company's record sales for the year were driven primarily by a 4 percent increase in the North American consumer group. Lawns grew 9.5 percent to $514.7 million due largely to the successful introduction of Turf Builder(R) Grass Seed. Growing Media improved 4.3 percent to $305.3 million and Gardens was stable at $151.9 million. Scotts Lawn Service increased revenue by 95.7 percent to $42.0 million.

Sales for the Ortho group decreased 11.0 percent during the year to $222.8 million. The year was impacted by product availability issues during the implementation of Scotts' new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system as well as early season merchandising problems. Both of those issues have been resolved for fiscal 2002. Ortho also was negatively impacted by the loss of sales from products containing Dursban, an active ingredient that was banned for consumer use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Global Professional sales were flat at $181.0 million while International Consumer fell 3.8 percent to $264.1 million. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange rates, both Global Professional and International Consumer grew 4 percent.

Gross margins, excluding restructuring and other charges, were 37.7 percent compared with 38.5 percent a year earlier. The decline was largely due to lower volume than anticipated and unfavorable product mix.

Scotts' gross commission from the Roundup(R) worldwide agency agreement was $39.1 million, essentially flat with 2000 levels. The overall category grew 4 percent through August and Roundup maintained its market share despite the loss of patent protection for the active ingredient contained in Roundup. However, net commissions fell to $20.8 million from $29.3 million, reflecting higher contribution expenses.

The Company also reiterated its previous 2002 guidance of sales growth of 4 to 6 percent. Additionally, earnings should benefit from cost savings that stem from restructuring and other ROIC initiatives.

For more information at The Scotts Company, please visit the Company's web site at www.scottscompany.com.

Company news release
N3920