Dover Reports Second Quarter Results

Net earnings for the second quarter of 2004 were $112.3 million or $.54 EPS, including $2.6 million or $.01 EPS of income from discontinued operations, compared to $72.8 million or $.36 EPS for the same period of 2003, which included $1.2 million in earnings from discontinued operations with no impact on EPS. Sales for the second quarter of 2004 were $1,380.4 million, an increase of 26% as compared to $1,094.0 million for the comparable period last year.

Dover Corporation earned $193.5 million or $.94 EPS from continuing operations for the six months ended June 30, 2004, compared to $129.3 million or $.64 EPS from continuing operations in the comparable period last year, an increase in earnings and EPS of 50% and 47%, respectively. Net earnings for the first six months of 2004 were $195.4 million or $.95 EPS, including $1.9 million or $.01 EPS of income from discontinued operations compared to $132.3 million or $.65 EPS for the same period of 2003, which included $3.0 million or $.01 EPS in earnings from discontinued operations. Sales for the first six months of 2004 were $2,622.7 million, an increase of 25% as compared to $2,092.4 million for the comparable period last year.

Commenting on the results and the current outlook, Thomas L. Reece, Dover’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: “Thirty-eight of our forty-nine operating companies achieved favorable quarterly year-over-year earnings comparisons in the second quarter and we realized solid margin growth across most of our businesses, with earnings from continuing operations increasing 53% on a sales increase of 26%. Our strong performance was driven primarily by our Resources and Technologies operating segments, which generated robust year-over-year and sequential increases in both sales and earnings. Industries also achieved improved sales and earnings results, as did many Diversified companies, although this was largely offset at the segment level by a significant decrease in earnings at Belvac. Over the past two quarters, backlog has continued to grow significantly, driven by strong bookings in the Technologies and Resources segments. We also completed four acquisitions during the quarter, and the fact that we are seeing a greater number of attractive acquisition candidates in the pipeline is very encouraging. We are confident that favorable conditions in our end markets, coupled with the ongoing focus of our operating company managers on the execution of their growth initiatives, will allow us to continue enhancing value for our shareholders.”