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The Andersons, Inc. Reports First Quarter Results
Earnings For Period Of $ 0.42 Per Diluted Share
Plant Nutrient and Rail Businesses Lead Earnings Results
PRNewswire-FirstCall
MAUMEE, Ohio

The Andersons, Inc. , today announced first quarter net income of $7.8 million, or $0.42 per diluted share, on revenues of $713 million. In the same three month period of 2007, the company reported net income of $9.2 million, or $0.51 per diluted share, on $407 million of revenues.

The Grain & Ethanol Group's first quarter operating income of $2.2 million was significantly less than its year earlier result of $10.2 million. The prior year's first quarter had $4.1 million more in non-recurring development fees associated with the ethanol plants. The grain business suffered a significant basis loss during the quarter as the cash markets for corn, beans and wheat did not rise at the same pace as the futures market. In contrast, income from the ethanol joint ventures grew significantly during the most recent quarter. The Albion and Clymers ethanol plants were in operation during the entire quarter and the Greenville plant opened in February. This compares to last year, when only the Albion facility was operating during the first quarter. In addition, first quarter income from the group's investment in Lansing Trade Group was significantly higher this year. The group was also impacted during the first quarter by rising inventory carrying costs associated with higher grain prices; specifically, interest expense increased over $3.0 million in comparison to the prior period. Total first quarter revenues for the group were $499 million; this includes $186 million of grain and ethanol sales made by the group in accordance with origination and marketing agreements between the company and its ethanol joint ventures for which it receives a fee. In the first quarter of 2007, the group's total revenues were $244 million, and included $40 million of the aforementioned ethanol joint venture fee only sales. While revenues for the group are higher, such amounts do not serve as good predictors of income or economic performance in a commodity based business.

The Rail Group's record operating income of $6.4 million in the first quarter of 2008 was more than double the $3.0 million earned during the same three month period a year ago. Revenues of $35 million for the quarter were $9 million higher than the $26 million reported in 2007. The group recognized $2.2 million in gross margin from the sale of railcars and related leases during the quarter. Gross profit from the leasing business was higher due to lower maintenance costs per car, a higher utilization rate, and growth in the size of the fleet. The group now has approximately 23,200 cars and locomotives, which is 10% more than it had twelve months ago. The average utilization rate (the percentage of the fleet in service) for the quarter was 93.4% in comparison to 92.5% for the same period last year. The gross profit of the railcar repair business grew during the first quarter due to the addition of a new repair shop in the second half of 2007.

The Plant Nutrient Group achieved record operating income of $7.5 million during the first quarter of 2008 on revenues of $105 million. These earnings are unprecedented in the first quarter, as the first quarter is typically a break-even or loss period. In the same three month period in 2007, the group reported a $0.4 million operating profit on $67 million of revenues. These earnings resulted from significant margin increases primarily resulting from inventory price appreciation, which began last year and has continued into 2008. Due to this escalation of plant nutrient prices, sales volume is slightly down from last year. As was recently announced, the group purchased Douglass Fertilizer & Chemical Inc. at the end of April. With 2007 sales of $47 million, Douglass has five facilities in Florida and one in Puerto Rico and is a specialty liquid nutrient manufacturer and retailer/wholesaler whose product lines complement the group's existing product lines well.

The Turf & Specialty Group achieved operating income of $2.0 million on $40 million of revenues during the first quarter. Last year, the group reported $1.8 million of income on $36 million of revenues for the period. Turf products tonnage increased slightly from year to year. Gross profit per ton was also up slightly, in spite of record high raw material prices this year, due to a larger percentage of sales coming from proprietary products such as Contec DG.

The Retail Group reported revenues of $33.7 million for the first quarter of 2008, which is similar to the $33.8 million in revenues reported for the same period in 2007. This includes sales from the Sylvania market store, which opened in the second quarter of 2007. Same store sales decreased 4.9% for the period. This sales decline is believed to be due to the overall decline in consumer spending. For the three month period, the Retail Group incurred an operating loss of $3.4 million, which compares to a $2.3 million loss incurred in the first quarter of 2007. Due to competitive sales pressure in the markets served, margins have also been reduced.

"We feel good about our overall performance so far this year. The Plant Nutrient and Rail businesses both contributed significantly to our income during the period. Our Grain & Ethanol Group was impacted in the first quarter by a reduction in basis that has started to return in April. We anticipate regaining the majority of this back later in the year, since we expect basis levels to improve. We were pleased this quarter that we were able to adjust both our long and short term debt to respond to the increasing commodity prices," said President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Anderson. "We are excited about the recent addition of Douglass Fertilizer, as this acquisition is consistent with our strategic goal of increasing our plant nutrient footprint and national market share through geographic expansion. We are also pleased that the third ethanol plant and sixth rail repair shop became operational this year. Our team continues to demonstrate the company's commitment to organic and adjacent growth," added Mr. Anderson.

Mr. Anderson also stated "Looking at our 2008 earnings forecast, numerous factors will have a bearing on the full year outcome: weather patterns during the agricultural planting and growing season within our region, the ability of farmers to make progress on corn planting that is currently quite a bit behind the five year national average, nutrient and energy prices, timing of railcar sales, and the performance of our equity investments, which include the ethanol production plants and Lansing Trade Group. Given all of these variables and the picture we see before us today, we anticipate that our full year 2008 earnings will be within a range of $3.65 to $4.00 per diluted share."

The company will host a webcast on Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 11:00 A.M. ET, to discuss its performance and full year outlook. This can be accessed under the heading "Investor Relations" on its website at www.andersonsinc.com.

The Andersons, Inc. is a diversified company with interests in the grain, ethanol and plant nutrient sectors of U.S. agriculture, as well as in railcar leasing and repair, turf products production, and general merchandise retailing. Founded in Maumee, Ohio, in 1947, the company now has operations in ten U.S. states and Puerto Rico, plus rail equipment leasing interests in Canada and Mexico.

This release contains forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Without limitation, these risks include economic, weather and regulatory conditions, competition, and the risk factors set forth from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although the Company believes that the assumptions upon which the financial information and its forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these assumptions will prove to be correct.

  The Andersons, Inc. is located on the Internet at www.andersonsinc.com



                             The Andersons, Inc.
                      Consolidated Statements of Income
                                 (Unaudited)
                                                     Three Months ended
                                                          March 31
  (in thousands, except for per share amounts)    2008              2007

  Sales and merchandising revenues              $713,001          $406,503
  Cost of sales and merchandising revenues       660,760           362,118
  Gross profit                                    52,241            44,385

  Operating, administrative and general
   expenses                                       39,504            37,751
  Allowance for doubtful accounts receivable       1,787               233
  Interest expense                                 9,122             5,022
  Other income / gains:
    Equity in earnings of affiliates               8,639             2,832
    Other income, net                              2,884             9,873
  Minority interest in net (income)
   loss of subsidiary                               (935)               83
  Income before income taxes                      12,416            14,167
  Income taxes                                     4,593             4,928
  Net income                                      $7,823            $9,239

  Per common share:
        Basic earnings                             $0.43             $0.52
        Diluted earnings                           $0.42             $0.51
        Dividends paid                           $0.0775           $0.0475

  Weighted average shares outstanding-basic       18,026            17,729
  Weighted average shares outstanding-diluted     18,408            18,242



                           The Andersons, Inc.
                       Consolidated Balance Sheets
                               (Unaudited)

                                           March 31    December 31  March 31
             (in thousands)                  2008         2007        2007
  Assets
  Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents               $34,765      $22,300    $27,449
    Restricted cash                           3,689        3,726      3,774
    Accounts receivable, net                177,947      106,257    122,880
    Margin deposits, net                     65,932       20,467     46,894
    Inventories                             558,030      502,904    316,831
    Commodity derivative assets -
     current                                283,417      205,956     74,959
    Other current assets                     58,079       43,281     48,537
  Total current assets                    1,181,859      904,891    641,324

  Investments and other assets              156,521      137,518     97,889
  Commodity derivative assets                50,828       29,458     20,613
  Railcar assets leased to others (net)     172,142      153,235    133,980
  Property, plant and equipment (net)       100,192       99,886     96,552
                                         $1,661,542   $1,324,988   $990,358

  Liabilities and shareholders' equity
  Current liabilities:
    Short-term borrowings                  $390,000     $245,500   $176,000
    Commodity derivative liabilities -
     current                                153,791      122,488     60,894
    Other current liabilities               362,736      359,224    243,288
  Total current liabilities                 906,527      727,212    480,182

  Deferred items and other long-term
   liabilities                               49,419       49,631     39,027
  Commodity derivative liabilities            8,734        2,090     25,655
  Long-term debt non-recourse                51,667       56,277     67,973
  Long-term debt                            279,348      133,195     85,848
  Minority interest                          13,154       12,219     12,837
  Shareholders' equity                      352,693      344,364    278,836
                                         $1,661,542   $1,324,988   $990,358



                                Segment Data

                                        Grain &            Plant     Turf &
                                        Ethanol    Rail   Nutrient Specialty
      Quarter ended March 31, 2008
  Revenues from external customers     $499,123  $35,011  $105,469  $39,661

  Gross Profit                           11,379   11,151    13,678    6,926

  Other income / Equity in earnings of
   affiliates                            11,173      178       146       93

  Operating income (loss)                 2,233    6,426     7,540    2,000

      Quarter ended March 31, 2007
  Revenues from external customers     $243,943  $25,916   $66,560  $36,304

  Gross Profit                           15,420    7,629     5,425    6,071

  Other income / Equity in earnings of
   affiliates                             8,814       91       156       62

  Operating income (loss)                10,170    3,008       431    1,800



                                Segment Data

                                            Retail      Other       Total
      Quarter ended March 31, 2008
  Revenues from external customers         $33,737         $-     $713,001

  Gross Profit                               9,107          -       52,241

  Other income / Equity in earnings of
   affiliates                                  147       (214)      11,523

  Operating income (loss)                   (3,377)    (2,406)      12,416

      Quarter ended March 31, 2007
  Revenues from external customers         $33,780         $-     $406,503

  Gross Profit                               9,840          -       44,385

  Other income / Equity in earnings of
   affiliates                                  160      3,422       12,705

  Operating income (loss)                   (2,287)     1,045       14,167

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

SOURCE: The Andersons, Inc.

CONTACT: Gary Smith of The Andersons, Inc., +1-419-891-6417