EXHIBIT 99.1
Contact: Neil Lefort
Vice President, Investor Relations
(630) 527-4344
MOLEX FILES FISCAL FIRST QUARTER REPORT WITH SEC
Announces Resignation of Independent Auditors
Lisle, IL, USA - November 15, 2004 -- Molex Incorporated (NASDAQ:
MOLX and MOLXA), a global electronic components company,
announced today that it filed its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q
for the fiscal first quarter ended September 30, 2004 with the
Securities and Exchange Commission earlier today. Molex issued a
press release on November 11, 2004 disclosing that the filing of
such Quarterly Report would be delayed. Molex also announced
today that Deloitte & Touche LLP has resigned as the Company's
independent auditors effective November 13, 2004 for the reasons
described below. As a result, the unaudited financial statements
for the quarter included in the 10-Q filing have not been
reviewed by an independent public accounting firm under Statement
of Auditing Standards No. 100 "Interim Financial Information" as
is required by SEC requirements. Molex's management is not aware
of any information which would result in any adjustments to the
financial information included in the Form 10-Q filed today.
The Quarterly Report filed today reflects the $8.0 million ($5.8
million after-tax or $0.03 per share) charge previously disclosed
in Molex's November 11 press release related to the omission of
certain inter-company inventory in the calculation of profit-in-
inventory elimination for prior fiscal periods, of which
approximately $3.0 million ($2.2 million after-tax) was related
to fiscal 2004. The amount of the charge was unchanged from the
amount reflected in the financial results included in Molex's
October 20, 2004 earnings release. As disclosed in Molex's
November 11 press release, Molex's Audit Committee, with the
assistance of independent legal and accounting advisors,
conducted an inquiry. The Audit Committee inquiry is complete,
and no adjustments were identified as a result of the inquiry.
Also included in the results reported in the Quarterly Report for
the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2004 is a reversal of a
prior year insurance accrual of $2.7 million ($2.0 million after-
tax), which was no longer required, and a reduction in inventory
allowance of $1.5 million ($1.1 million after-tax). These
amounts are unchanged from the amounts reflected in the financial
results included in Molex's October 20, 2004 earnings release.
On Saturday, November 13, 2004, representatives of Deloitte
advised Molex that Deloitte was prepared to complete its SAS 100
review in time to permit a filing of the Form 10-Q in
substantially the form in which it was filed today by the
November 15 extended deadline for such report, but only if
Molex's principal executive officer and former principal
financial and accounting officer, who was recently reassigned as
Vice President and Treasurer as described in Molex's November 11
press release, no longer served as officers of Molex and certain
disclosures relating to the matters in question were agreed upon.
Molex's Audit Committee and Board of Directors each unanimously
rejected this condition imposed by Deloitte. Following the
communication of Molex's position, representatives of Deloitte
advised Molex that Deloitte was resigning as Molex's independent
auditors effective immediately. Deloitte did not advise the
Company that its resignation was due to any disagreements with
Molex on any matter of accounting principles or practices,
financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedures
which, if not resolved to the satisfaction of Deloitte, would
have caused Deloitte to make reference thereto in its audit
report.
Fred Krehbiel, Co-Chairman of Molex, stated, "We are extremely
disappointed with the timing of Deloitte's resignation and
strongly disagree with their approach and the condition that we
remove as officers valued members of our senior management team.
My brother John and I have complete confidence in the integrity
and leadership of our senior management team, and believe that
the same principles of character, loyalty and integrity that
built Molex's hard-earned reputation over its 66-year history are
reflected in the Board's decision regarding this matter."
Molex's Audit Committee has initiated contact with an independent
public accounting firm, and will move promptly to engage a new
accounting firm. The Audit Committee chairman, Douglas Carnahan,
stated, "We are encouraged by the level of interest and expect
that Molex will engage a new accounting firm shortly."
Molex plans to file an amendment to its Form 10-Q for the fiscal
quarter ended September 30, 2004 after the SAS 100 review of the
unaudited financial statements for that quarter has been
completed by new independent auditors. Until such amendment is
filed, Molex is not deemed by the SEC to be current or timely in
its Exchange Act filings or by Nasdaq to be in compliance with
its continued listing requirements. Filing the planned amendment
to the Form 10-Q after the SAS 100 review of the interim
financial statements has been completed would make Molex current
in its SEC filing obligations and in compliance with the
applicable Nasdaq continued listing requirement.
Statements in this release that are not historical are forward-
looking and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to vary materially from those stated.
Certain of these risks and uncertainties are set forth in Molex's
10-K and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission and include Molex's ability to timely hire a new
independent registered public accounting firm, Molex's ability to
timely comply with SEC and Nasdaq reporting obligations, economic
conditions in various regions, product and price competition and
foreign currency exchange rate changes. Molex does not
undertake to revise these forward-looking statements or to
provide any updates regarding information contained in this
release resulting from new information, future events or
otherwise.
The Company's Annual Report, as well as news releases and other
supplementary financial data is available by accessing the
Company's website at www.molex.com.
Molex Incorporated is a 66-year-old manufacturer of electronic
components, including electrical and fiber optic interconnection
products and systems, switches and integrated products in 55
plants in 19 countries throughout the world.