LECO Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc

Lincoln Electric Board Raises Dividend; Elects Harold L. Adams Lead Director CLEVELAND, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) today announced that its Board of Directors declared a dividend increase of 1 cent to 18 cents per share quarterly or 72 cents per share annually, representing an increase of 7.5% over 2004 dividends paid. The dividend is payable Jan. 15, 2005, to holders of record as of Dec. 31, 2004. The Company also announced that the Board has modified its Corporate Governance Guidelines to provide for the annual appointment of a Lead Director to serve as a liaison between the Chairman and independent Directors. Harold L. Adams has been appointed to that position. A Board member since 2002, Mr. Adams chairs the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and is a member of the Compensation and Executive Development Committee. Mr. Adams is Chairman Emeritus of RTKL Associates, Inc., a Director of Commercial Metals Company and Legg Mason, Inc. Lincoln Electric is the world leader in the design, development and manufacture of arc welding products, robotic arc-welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Lincoln has operations, manufacturing alliances and joint ventures in 18 countries and a worldwide network of distributors and sales offices covering more than 160 countries. For more information about Lincoln Electric, its products and services, visit the Company's Web site at http://www.lincolnelectric.com/ . DATASOURCE: Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. CONTACT: Roy L. Morrow of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc., +1-216-383-4893, or Web site: http://www.lincolnelectric.com/

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