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NEWS RELEASE                                       21062 Bake Parkway, Suite 200
                                                   Lake Forest, CA 92630
         CONTACT:                                  888-822-2660
                                                   Fax: (949) 597-0662
         Norris Battin

         The Cooper Companies, Inc.

         ir@coopercompanies.com

         FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


                COOPER COMPANIES COMMENTS ON CONTACT LENS REVENUE

                    Reiterates Guidance for Fiscal Year 2001

Lake Forest, Calif., July 20, 2001 - In response to investors' inquiries, the
Cooper Companies, Inc., (NYSE: COO) said today that worldwide revenue for the
second calendar quarter in its CooperVision contact lens unit rose 20 percent
compared with the second calendar quarter of 2000. Revenue in the United States
grew 12 percent while revenue outside the United States grew 36 percent.

CooperVision is a leading manufacturer of specialty contact lenses, especially
toric lenses for astigmatism and cosmetic contact lenses that change the
appearance of the color of the eye. Consistent with contact lens market dynamics
over the past several years, the specialty category continues to show stronger
growth than the commodity spherical lens category, which remains sluggish.

Cooper said that it continues to be comfortable with the revenue and earnings
guidance given in its fiscal second quarter earnings release, expecting revenue
to grow 15 to 18 percent over fiscal year 2000 with earnings per share in the
range of $2.38 to $2.42. For its third fiscal quarter, Cooper remains
comfortable with analysts' consensus estimates of revenue and earnings per
share.

Cooper will release its earnings for the fiscal quarter ending July 31 on August
29.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the information included in this news release contains "forward-looking
statements" as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements include all statements regarding anticipated growth
in our revenue, anticipated market conditions and results of operations. To








identify forward-looking statements look for words like "believes," "expects,"
"may," "will," "should," "seeks," "intends," "plans," "estimates" or
"anticipates" and similar words or phrases. Discussions of strategy, plans or
intentions often contain forward-looking statements. These, and all
forward-looking statements, necessarily depend on assumptions, data or methods
that may be incorrect or imprecise.

Events, among others, that could cause actual results and future actions to
differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements include
major changes in business conditions, a major disruption in the operations of
our manufacturing facilities, new competitors or technologies, the impact of an
undetected virus on our computer systems, acquisition integration delays or
costs, foreign currency exchange exposure, investments in research and
development and other start-up projects, dilution to earnings per share from
acquisitions or issuing stock, regulatory issues, significant environmental
cleanup costs above those already accrued, litigation costs including any
related settlements, cost of business divestitures, the requirement to provide
for a significant liability or to write off a significant asset, changes in
accounting principles or estimates, and other factors described in our
Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the "Business" section in
our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended October 31, 2000. We caution
investors that forward-looking statements reflect our analysis only on their
stated date. We disclaim any intent to update them except as required by law.

The Cooper Companies, Inc. and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market
specialty healthcare products. Corporate offices are located in Lake Forest and
Pleasanton, Calif. A toll free interactive telephone system at 1-800-334-1986
provides stock quotes, recent press releases and financial data. The Cooper
Companies' World Wide Web address is www.coopercos.com.