TruGreen hit with bad third quarter

Memphis-based ServiceMaster  reported a third-quarter operating loss of $724 million, as the weak performance of its TruGreen subsidiary continued to drag on results. The loss included goodwill and trade name impairment charges of $845 million, the company said.

Third-quarter revenues were $901 million, down 3.2 percent compared to the year-earlier period.

Excluding TruGreen, ServiceMaster's operating revenue rose 4.2 percent and operating performance was up 6.9 percent.

"Obviously, our third-quarter results overall, and TruGreen's in particular, didn't meet our expectations," said Hank Mullany, ServiceMaster's CEO and interim president of company subsidiary TruGreen.

The company plans to reinvigorate theTruGreen residential lawn care division and capture a larger market share.

"We have work ahead of us," Mullany said.

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