Central Garden & Pet has announced preliminary results for its fiscal third quarter pet food sales. The American distributor and producer of branded products for the garden and the pet supply market reported net sales of US$493 million in the quarter, an increase of 6% compared to US$467 million in the comparable fiscal 2007 period. Income from operations was US$33.9 million, a decline of 9% compared to US$37.2 million in the year-ago period. For the first nine months of fiscal 2008, Central Garden & Pet reported net sales of US$1,291 million, an increase of 2% from US$1,270 million in the comparable 2007 period. The operating loss for the period was US$312 million compared to operating income of US$89 million in the year-ago period.