PAL Equatorial Palm Oil Plc

RNS Number:3725U
Pall Corporation
20 November 2000


Pall Corporation Reports Strong First Quarter

East Hills, NY (11/14/2000) - - Pall Corporation (NYSE: PLL) today reported
sales results and earnings estimates for its first quarter which ended on
October 28, 2000. 

For the quarter, sales increased 4% to $278.2 million compared to $267.1 million
last year. In local currency, sales were up 10%. Foreign exchange rates reduced
sales 6% or $16.2 million. Pricing was flat. Earnings for the quarter are
expected to be 21 cents per share. This is a 10 1/2% increase over the 19 cents
per share in last year's first quarter (before a 1 cent per share, one-time gain
from the sale of a property in the United Kingdom).

Commenting on the sales results, Eric Krasnoff, Chairman and CEO said, "We are
pleased by the double-digit local currency sales growth that has now been
achieved for a second consecutive quarter. We also achieved our goal of
increasing earnings at a faster rate than sales.

Commencing with this first quarter, we are reporting sales information according
to a realignment of our business segments. Results are being reported under
Health Care, comprised of Medical and BioPharmaceuticals, and Industrial,
comprised of Aerospace, Microelectronics and General Industrial.

Industrial sales increased 16 1/2% in local currency, lead by another strong
showing in Microelectronics, whose sales grew 65 1/2%. The Aerospace subsegment
also grew strongly at 17%. In the General Industrial subsegment, where sales
grew 5 1/2%, we were pleased by a 31% sales increase in the Water Processing
Division.

Microelectronics sales were strong in all geographies, up 60% in the Western
Hemisphere, 80% in Europe and 63 1/2% in Asia. We continue to benefit from a
strong semiconductor industry and from the success of our many new products.
Backlog in the Microelectronics subsegment again increased and is now almost
two-thirds higher than at this time last year. 

In our Health Care segment, sales increased 3 1/2% in local currency reflecting
an increase of 6% in BioPharmaceuticals sales and 2% growth in Medical. The
Medical subsegment's growth was held back by blood filter product mix and by
sales of Critical Care filtration products, which declined 6% in the quarter,
mostly due to the timing of OEM orders. 

In Medical, blood filter sales achieved 6 1/2% local currency growth. Blood
filter sales to blood centers grew 17%, while blood filter sales to hospitals
reduced 15%. Sales to blood centers now represent nearly three-quarters of total
blood filter sales. It is becoming increasingly challenging to predict product
mix to blood centers as they evaluate whether to use Pall's in-line blood
collection systems or our dockable filter systems. This does not affect earnings
but can effect the top line. For this reason, we thought it useful to report
actual unit sales growth of blood filters. For the first quarter, unit growth of
blood filters was 18%.

BioPharmaceuticals grew 6%, reflecting solid classic BioPharmaceuticals and
biotech growth of 8 1/2% that was offset by flat Laboratory product sales. 

Turning to the geographies, sales in the Western Hemisphere increased 8%,
continuing a trend begun last year. Local currency sales growth in Europe was 6%
and an impressive 23 1/2% in Asia. The effects of foreign exchange are evident
in the reported sales figures, where local currency growth of 10% was reduced by
6% or $16.2 million. This was almost entirely due to a weak Euro, which turned a
6% local currency growth for Europe into a reported 9 1/2% decrease."

Regarding Pall's earnings expectations for the quarter, Mr. Krasnoff said,
"Earnings will be released after the market closes on November 28. We expect the
first quarter's earnings to be about 21 cents per share compared to 19 cents per
share achieved for the first quarter last year. This result, achieved despite
the headwind of currency, will get us off to a good start in fiscal year 2001
and propels us toward our goal of another record year in earnings." 

PALL CORPORATION MARKET AND GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENT INFORMATION
DOLLAR AMOUNTS IN THOUSANDS

                                                                 % CHANGE
SALES                                                  %         IN LOCAL
FIRST QUARTER ENDED:  OCT. 28, 2000  OCT. 30, 1999   CHANGE      CURRENCY

MARKET SEGMENT     
INFORMATION(a):

Medical                  $ 74,139     $ 75,798       (2)            2
BioPharmaceuticals         52,260       52,940       (1 1/2)        6

Total Health Care         126,399      128,738       (2)            3 1/2

General Industrial         87,738       89,549       (2)            5 1/2
Aerospace                  33,806       30,013       12 1/2         17
Microelectronics           30,208       18,822       60 1/2         65 1/2
Total Industrial          151,752      138,384        9 1/2         16 1/2

Total                    $278,151    $ 267,122        4             10

GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENT
INFORMATION (b):

Western
  Hemisphere         $ 132,545    $ 122,715           8               8
Europe                  86,637       95,964          (9 1/2)          6
Asia                    58,969       48,443          21 1/2          23 1/2

Total                $ 278,151    $ 267,122           4              10

(a) Prior year amounts have been reclassified in accordance with the Company's
business realignment.

(b) Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current
year presentation.
 
Pall is the leader in the increasingly complex and demanding filtration industry
and has been for more than 50 years. Pall serves customers throughout the health
care and industrial marketplace, providing leading-edge products for such
applications as transfusion medicine, biopharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and
municipal drinking water.

Pall Corporation (NYSE: PLL) has annual sales of over $1.2 billion. The Company
is headquartered in East Hills, New York and has operations in over 30
countries. Further information can be found at http://www.pall.com.

This release contains "forward looking statements" as defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current
Company expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties which could
cause actual results to differ materially. In addition to foreign exchange
rates, such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, regulatory
approval, market acceptance of new technologies, economic conditions and market
demand.

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