CINCINNATI, Oct. 30 -- Multi-Color Corporation was highlighted on Forbes Magazine's 200 Best Small Companies List, released earlier this month. Multi-Color was ranked, by Forbes, as the 7th Most Up and Coming Company, with "its in-mold and heat transfer labels appearing on 330 of the world's most popular brands." "We are thrilled to receive national recognition from one of America's leading business magazines regarding our performance over the last five years", said Frank Gerace, President and CEO of Multi-Color. "I would like to thank all of our Multi-Color associates for the hard work and effort that has gone into achieving those results. It re-affirms the old adage that hard work pays off. They deserve the recognition." The 200 Best Small Companies were formulated from a database of 3500 profitable corporations. The tough selection process took into consideration the last 12 months of performance as well as performance over the previous 5 years. Growth in share price, earnings per share, sales, and return on equity were key performance measurements used to narrow the top ranking companies. For qualification, companies must have achieved sales between $5 million and $600 million over the last 12 months, with shares trading above $5 by the end of September. Share prices of the 200 companies compiled an average 12-month increase of 58%. Multi-Color share price increased over 70% during the same period. While earnings per share on the list averaged growth of 19%, Multi-Color reported a 44% EPS increase during those 12 months. At the close of Multi-Color's Fiscal year, ending March 31, 2003, sales had risen 37% to $100 million dollars. In the past five years, Multi-Color has seen average annual sales increases of 17%, EPS development of 28% and rises in ROE of 27%. With all this growth, it is no coincidence that Multi-Color's Board of Directors also received tribute in Forbes Magazine, rewarding their leadership efforts with the second highest score for corporate governance. "Our Board of Directors has done a tremendous job leading the corporation to success," added Gerace. "They guide the organization with the same values and principles from which we base our day to day management and behaviors. We are aligned from the top of the organization to the bottom and it is becoming increasingly evident in our results." With a depth of product offerings, from artwork to product placement on the shelf, and the ambition to keep on growing, Multi-Color is the company to watch.