Dionex (DNEX) 8-K Dionex Reports Record Sales and Earnings for Second Quarter

Exhibit 99.1

January 21, 2004 Contact: Craig McCollam
Dionex Corporation
408-481-4107

DIONEX REPORTS RECORD SALES AND EARNINGS FOR SECOND QUARTER

FOR RELEASE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2004, 1:05 P.M. PST

Sunnyvale, California — Dionex Corporation (NASDAQ: DNEX) today announced record sales and earnings for its second quarter and first six months of fiscal 2004.

For the second quarter ended December 31, 2003, sales were $65.5 million, an increase of 20%, compared with the $54.5 million reported for the same period last year. Excluding the favorable effects of currency fluctuations, sales growth would have been 11% for the quarter. Diluted earnings per share were $.49 for the second quarter, showing an increase of 20% over the $.41 reported in the second quarter last year. Cash flow from operations was $9 million in the quarter.

For the first six months of fiscal 2004, sales totaled $118.8 million, an increase of 17%, compared with the $101.8 million reported for the first six months of fiscal 2003. Excluding the favorable effects of currency fluctuations, sales for the first six months increased by 10%. Diluted earnings per share for the first six months ended December 31, 2003, were $.84, an increase of 20%, compared with the $.70 per share reported in the first half of last year. Cash flow from operations for the first six months was strong and totaled approximately $22 million.

During the second quarter, the Company repurchased 53,900 shares of its common stock, bringing the total shares repurchased to 336,000 for the first six months of this fiscal year.

A. Blaine Bowman, Chairman of the Board, commenting on the results, said, “We are very happy with our results for the second quarter and first six months. These results continue a string of strong growth in both sales and earnings that started in the last quarter of fiscal 2002. In fact, this quarter’s results were a record, as we achieved the highest level of sales and earnings in the company’s history. We received a boost from a weaker U.S. dollar, which helped increase consolidated sales by approximately 9 percentage points. We experienced strong growth in both our ion chromatography (IC) and HPLC product lines. We continue to see the benefits of our strategic initiatives, especially in the area of IC, where our products introduced in March 2003 are fueling good growth.”

Lukas Braunschweiler, President and Chief Executive Officer, commenting on the results, said, “Our results reflect the continued drive by all of our people to achieve our strategic goals and to implement our growth initiatives. We reported very strong growth in both sales and earnings per share. Our North American business grew in the low-single digits this quarter after an extremely strong first quarter, as government spending was not as strong in the second quarter. Europe reported very strong growth, with sales growing over 20% in reported dollars and in the low-double digits in local currency. Our Asia/Pacific business, especially in Japan, expanded strongly again, growing over 40% in reported dollars and over 30% in local currency.

“We saw good growth in our key markets of life sciences and environmental. In our other markets, we saw good growth except for the chemical/petrochemical area.

“Looking forward to the third quarter, we believe that we have good momentum. We estimate that our sales will be in the range of $64-$66 million and earnings per share will be in the range of $.46-$.49. For the entire year, we are increasing our guidance. We estimate that sales will be in the range of $245-$250 million and our earnings per share will be in the range of $1.78-$1.82. In developing these estimates, we believe that we will continue to see benefits from our products introduced in the last 12 months and that there will be some minor improvements in economic conditions in North America and Europe. In addition, we have assumed no changes in currency rates from where they were at December 31, 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 second quarter results in a conference call on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 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, January 22, 2004 until 5:00 p.m. PT, Friday, February 6, 2004.

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				Six Months Ended
			December 31,				December 31,
			2003		2002		2003			2002
Net sales			$	65,539	$	54,478	$	118,815		$	101,750
Cost of sales				21,837		18,321		39,845			35,272
Gross profit				43,702		36,157		78,970			66,478
Operating expenses:
	Selling, general and administrative			22,894		19,138		42,062			36,223
	Research and product development			5,027		4,334		9,598			8,240
		Total operating expenses		27,921		23,472		51,660			44,463
Operating income				15,781		12,685		27,310			22,015
Interest income, net				163		109		212			126
Other income(expense), net				4		390		(328	)		390
Income before taxes on income				15,948		13,184		27,194			22,531
Taxes on income				5,183		4,285		8,838			7,323
		Net income	$	10,765	$	8,899	$	18,356		$	15,208
Basic earnings per share			$	0.51	$	0.42	$	0.87		$	0.72
Diluted earnings per share			$	0.49	$	0.41	$	0.84		$	0.70
Shares used in computing per share amounts:
	Basic			21,135		21,161		21,058			21,137
	Diluted			21,985		21,713		21,885			21,629

DIONEX CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
AT DECEMBER 31, 2003 AND JUNE 30, 2003
(In thousands)

					December 31,		June 30,
					2003		2003
					(Unaudited)
ASSETS
	Current assets:
		Cash and equivalents			$	67,278	$	46,831
		Marketable equity securities				1,674		1,402
		Accounts receivable, net				47,843		46,613
		Inventories				25,011		25,462
		Other current assets				14,660		12,737
				Total current assets		156,466		133,045
	Property, plant and equipment, net					47,667		45,436
	Goodwill and other intangible assets					29,858		28,856
	Other assets					5,340		5,763
					$	239,331	$	213,100
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
	Current liabilities:
		Notes payable			$	1,774	$	1,334
		Accounts payable				6,526		5,443
		Accrued liabilities				29,435		29,045
		Income taxes payable				2,586		6,189
		Accrued product warranty				3,433		3,188
			Total current liabilities			43,754		45,199
	Deferred income taxes and other					8,294		8,121
	Long term debt					280		500
	Stockholders’ equity					187,003		159,280
					$	239,331	$	213,100

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