Strong showing from Tektronix in Q3

Tektronix has reported net sales of $243.5 million and net earnings from continuing operations of $43.9 million or $0.50 per share, for the third quarter ended 28th February 2004

This compares with net sales of $186.6 million and net earnings from continuing operations of $1.0 million or $0.01 per share, for the same period a year ago. Excluding business realignment and one-time items, net earnings from continuing operations were $29.1 million or $0.33 per share for the third quarter, as compared with $11.7 million or $0.13 per share for the same period last year.

We saw orders growth of 20% for the quarter driven by continued strength in the overall market and positive response to new products.

Signal sources, oscilloscopes and logic analysers were especially strong', said Rick Wills, Tektronix Chairman and CEO.

'More importantly, it is our second quarter in a row in which we saw growth across all regions and most product lines, consistent with our belief that we are in the midst of the phased recovery'.

There were several things of note in the quarter from an operational standpoint as well.

We successfully implemented a state-of-the-art supply chain enterprise resource planning system with no impact to shipments - the team did a great job', continued Wills.

'We also completed the sale of our Japanese headquarters building in connection with the planned move of our Tokyo headquarter operations to a newer leased facility'.

'In addition, Rohde and Schwarz, whose products we currently distribute in the USA and Canada, will begin selling their products directly in those markets and we will not distribute their products after 1st June 2004.

This relationship has been mutually beneficial, one that enabled Rohde and Schwarz to develop a presence in the United States and helped Tektronix develop customer relationships and a direct sales force in support of our strategy to expand our RF product offerings.

While this will impact revenues next year, we do not expect it to have a negative impact on earnings'.

'This was a great quarter for Tektronix in many respects.

We continue to see elements of a phased recovery and continue to grow our four core product categories.

The acceptance of new products in the quarter demonstrates this.

We are gaining traction in our two new product categories - these represent good, long-term opportunities for growth.

And, as we saw this quarter, we have demonstrated our ability to grow earnings faster than revenues', concluded Wills.

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004, the company expects sales to be approximately $230-240 million.

Earnings per share from continuing operations are expected to be between $0.24 and $0.28.