Dionex (DNEX) 8-K Dionex Reports Record Sales and Eps for the Full Year and Fourth Quarter

EXHIBIT 99.1

DIONEX LETTERHEAD

PRESS RELEASE

July 30, 2003 Contact: Craig McCollam
Dionex Corporation
408-481-4107

DIONEX REPORTS RECORD SALES AND EPS FOR THE FULL YEAR AND FOURTH QUARTER

FOR RELEASE WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 2003 1:05 P.M. PDT

Sunnyvale, California – Dionex Corporation (NASDAQ: DNEX) today announced record sales and earnings per share for its full year and fourth quarter of fiscal 2003.

Sales for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003 were $214.9 million, an increase of 18%, compared with the $182.4 million reported for the last fiscal year. Excluding the favorable effects of currency fluctuations, sales grew by 11% for the year. Diluted earnings per share for the year were $1.45. Excluding the write-off of an investment in an unaffiliated entity, diluted earnings per share were $1.52, a 23% increase over the $1.24 reported for last fiscal year. Cash flow from operations was also very strong and totaled over $43 million for the year.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2003, sales were $57.1 million, an increase of 18%, compared to the $48.6 million reported for the fourth quarter last year. Excluding the favorable effects of currency fluctuations, sales grew by 9% for the quarter. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $.40, an increase of 14% compared with the $.35 reported for the fourth quarter last year. Cash flow from operations for the quarter was very strong with over $15 million being generated.

During the fourth quarter, the Company repurchased 196,300 shares of its common stock, bringing the total shares repurchased for the year to 722,700 shares.

A. Blaine Bowman, Chairman of the Board, commenting on the results, said, “We are very pleased with the strong growth in sales and earnings for fiscal 2003. In fact, we achieved the highest level of sales and EPS in the history of the Company, both on an annual basis and for the fourth quarter. We experienced solid growth in our major markets of North America, Europe and Asia. Moreover, we saw solid growth in all of our major product lines: Ion Chromatography, HPLC and Sample Extraction. The momentum that we saw in the first three quarters carried into the fourth quarter, despite a continued difficult economic environment.”

Lukas Braunschweiler, President and Chief Executive Officer, added, “We are pleased with the strong overall performance. Sales grew by 18% and operating income grew by 21% in the quarter compared with the previous year. We experienced strong sales growth in Europe with reported growth of over 20% and local currency growth in the high-single digits. In North America, sales were up in the mid-single digits. Asia/Pacific sales grew over 20% in both reported and local currency, including China where revenues doubled compared with a year ago. We also saw growth in all of our product lines during the quarter, with IC and HPLC both growing in the high teens.

“We continued to experience growth in our key life sciences and environmental markets. In our other markets, we reported very solid results with all of the markets growing, except chemical/petrochemical and electronics.

“Looking at the first quarter of fiscal 2004, we estimate that sales will be in the $51-53 million range and diluted earnings per share will be in the range of $.31-$.33. For the entire fiscal year, we believe that sales will be in the $232-$238 million range and diluted earnings per share in the range of $1.67-$1.73. In arriving at these estimates, we assumed that there will be a slight recovery in economic conditions in the third and fourth quarters of our fiscal year. We also assumed that the Asia/Pacific region, especially China, will continue to grow significantly and that the U.S. dollar will not fluctuate significantly from its levels at June 30, 2003.”

Dionex Corporation is a leading manufacturer and marketer of chromatography systems for chemical analysis. The Company’s systems are used in environmental analysis and by the life sciences, food and beverage, chemicals, petrochemicals, power generation and electronics industries in a variety of applications.

The company will discuss fourth quarter results in a conference call on Wednesday, July 30, 2003 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (PT). To listen to the call live, please tune into the webcast via www.Dionex.com. A playback of the conference call will be available from 8:00 a.m. PT, Thursday, July 31, 2003 until 5:00 p.m. PT, Monday, August 18, 2003.

Certain statements regarding sales and earnings contained herein that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. Factors that may affect sales and earnings causing actual results to differ from these statements are foreign currency fluctuations, competition from other products, economic conditions in the areas in which the company sells its products, and existing product obsolescence. These factors and other risk and uncertainties are discussed in greater detail in the Company’s Reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

DIONEX CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

(In thousands, except per share amounts)
(Unaudited)

			Three Months Ended				Twelve Months Ended
			June 30,				June 30,
			2003		2002		2003			2002
Net sales			$	57,090	$	48,579	$	214,909		$	182,434
Cost of sales				19,191		16,965		73,273			63,740
Gross profit				37,899		31,614		141,636			118,694
Operating expenses:
	Selling, general and administrative			20,862		17,470		76,929			65,126
	Research and product development			4,472		3,735		16,888			15,094
		Total operating expenses		25,334		21,205		93,817			80,220
Operating income				12,565		10,409		47,819			38,474
Interest income, net				117		180		312			325
Write-off of a non-affiliate investment				—		—		(2,067	)		—
Other income				71		532		497			2,101
Income before taxes on income				12,753		11,121		46,561			40,900
Taxes on income				4,145		3,614		15,133			13,292
		Net income	$	8,608	$	7,507	$	31,428		$	27,608
Basic earnings per share			$	0.41	$	0.35	$	1.49		$	1.27
Diluted earnings per share			$	0.40	$	0.35	$	1.45		$	1.24
Shares used in computing per share amounts:
	Basic			20,928		21,268		21,057			21,705
	Diluted			21,653		21,669		21,632			22,184
RECONCILIATION OF DILUTED EARNINGS PER SHARE BEFORE WRITE-OFF OF A NON-AFFILIATE INVESTMENT:
Net income, as reported				8,608		7,507		31,428			27,608
Write-off of non-affiliate investment				—		—		2,067			—
Tax effect				—		—		(672	)		—
Adjusted net income				8,608		7,507		32,823			27,608
Adjusted diluted earnings per share			$	0.40	$	0.35	$	1.52		$	1.24
Shares used to compute adjusted diluted earnings per share				21,653		21,669		21,632			22,184

DIONEX CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
AT JUNE 30, 2003 AND JUNE 30, 2002

(In thousands)

					June 30,		June 30,
					2003		2002
ASSETS
	Current assets:
		Cash and equivalents			$	46,831	$	22,169
		Marketable equity securities				1,402		2,281
		Accounts receivable, net				46,613		45,139
		Inventories				25,462		22,410
		Other current assets				11,941		10,390
				Total current assets		132,249		102,389
	Property, plant and equipment, net					45,436		44,895
	Goodwill and other intangible assets					28,856		25,055
	Other assets					6,559		8,379
					$	213,100	$	180,718
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
	Current liabilities:
		Notes payable			$	1,334	$	2,503
		Accounts payable				5,443		5,227
		Accrued liabilities				29,045		24,306
		Income taxes payable				6,189		4,902
		Accrued product warranty				3,188		2,912
			Total current liabilities			45,199		39,850
	Deferred income taxes and other					8,121		8,159
	Long term debt					500		1,002
	Stockholders’ equity					159,280		131,707
					$	213,100	$	180,718

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