The Toro Company reports record net earnings ($81.6 million) and record net sales ($1,496.6 million) for the fiscal year ending October 2003. Fourth-quarter net earnings were $5.6 million, with net sales of $310.3 million. Sales growth is attributed primarily to a substantial increase in Toro?EUR??,,????'???s landscape contractor equipment business and new product sales. Worldwide sales climbed in all major product categories. Toro reached the 5.5-percent profit-after-tax goal of its three-year profit-improvement initiative, according to a company spokesperson. ?EUR??,,????'??A tremendous company-wide effort made 2003 the best year in Toro's history,?EUR??,,????'?? commented Kendrick Melrose, Toro chairman and CEO. Melrose predicts a net sales growth of 7 to 9 percent for the new year. Melrose has done well for the company. When he took over in 1980, the company was losing money, and continued to lose money through 1984, when the CEO began to tighten the fiscal purse strings and focus on power equipment for landscape contractors. >