CTAS Cintas Corporation

CINCINNATI, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) continues to reach out to all its employees impacted by Hurricane Katrina. The Company has continued to pay its affected employees and will attempt to provide employment at a facility in any area where an employee has been relocated. The Company has also established a special phone number for its affected employees to call with any questions they may have. Scott D. Farmer, President and Chief Executive Officer stated, "Our most immediate concern is that our employees are safe, and we have requested that they contact the Company to tell us where they are located. We intend to do whatever we can to assist them in this terrible situation. Additionally, the Company is evaluating alternatives how it can best assist the region impacted by the storm." Due to the impact of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, the Cintas operation in New Orleans, Louisiana has been shut down, and there currently is no estimate as to when operations can resume. The facility accounts for approximately $400,000 per week in revenues. While the facility appears to have sustained minimal property damage, it is difficult to determine, at this time, the financial impact on the Company due to the uncertain impact on Cintas' customers. Additionally, the Company's operations in Mobile, Alabama; Jackson and Gulfport, Mississippi; Thibodaux, Baton Rouge and Hammond, Louisiana have all had disruptions in their utilities and were unable to operate most of last week. Power has now been restored and the operations are processing. However, business results may be impacted due to difficulties encountered by our customers in resuming their operations. The rapid increases in energy costs will also have a negative impact on the Company's margins if the current or higher price levels continue. While it is difficult, at this time, to accurately determine the financial impact of the hurricane on Cintas, the Company expects to provide more specific information during its review of the first quarter operating results prior to the end of September. About Cintas Headquartered in Cincinnati, Cintas Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types throughout North America. Cintas designs, manufactures and implements corporate identity uniform programs, and provides entrance mats, restroom supplies, promotional products, first aid and safety products, fire protection services and document management services for approximately 700,000 businesses. Cintas is a publicly held company traded over the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol CTAS, and is a Nasdaq-100 company and component of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. The Company has achieved 36 consecutive years of growth in sales and earnings, to date. CAUTION CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor from civil litigation for forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as estimates, anticipates, projects, plans, expects, intends, believes, should and similar expressions and by the context in which they are used. Such statements are based upon current expectations of the Company and speak only as of the date made. These statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in this news release. Factors that might cause such a difference include the possibility of greater than anticipated operating costs, lower sales volumes, the performance and costs of integration of acquisitions, fluctuations in costs of materials and labor, costs and possible effects of union organizing activities, outcome of pending environmental matters, the cost, results and timely completion of assessment and remediation of internal controls for financial reporting required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the initiation or outcome of litigation, higher assumed sourcing or distribution costs of products, the disruption of operations from catastrophic events and the reactions of competitors in terms of price and service. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. Cintas undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect the events or circumstances arising after the date on which they are made. DATASOURCE: Cintas Corporation CONTACT: William C. Gale, Senior Vice President-Finance and Chief Financial Officer, +1-513-573-4211, or Karen L. Carnahan, Vice President and Treasurer, +1-513-573-4013, both of Cintas Corporation Web site: http://www.cintas.com/

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