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MacDermid Posts Increased Q2 Earnings

Press release from the issuing company

WATERBURY, Conn.--Aug. 5, 2003-- MacDermid, Incorporated, a worldwide manufacturer of proprietary specialty chemical products and materials for the electronics, metal finishing and graphic arts industries, today reports earnings for its quarter ended June 30, 2003. Quarter ended June 30, 2003 compared to June 30, 2002 Earnings for the second quarter were $12.1 million or $0.38 per share compared to $9.7 million, $0.30 per share in the prior year quarter. Proprietary sales of $143.5 million decreased by 1% or $1.7 million, and total sales were $175.7 down $1.0 million or 0.6%. Favorable currency exchange rates aided total sales by $14.6 million, proprietary sales by $9.6 million, and earnings by $1.2 million or $0.02 per share. Owner Earnings, a measure of free cash flow, were $23.9 million. Quarter ended June 30, 2003 compared to Quarter ended March 31, 2003 Diluted earnings per share were $0.38 for the quarter ended June 2003 compared to the previous sequential quarter of $0.36. Proprietary sales were higher by $2.8 million but were assisted by favorable currency exchange rates to the extent of $3.0 million. Total sales increased by $3.3 million (2%) but were aided by $4.4 million in currency translation. Corporate Officer appointed MacDermid announced Mr. Salim Haji has joined the Company as Vice President Strategic Planning and Development. Mr. Haji will bring his considerable experience to help organize top line growth initiatives. Prior to joining MacDermid Mr. Haji was a Vice President and Partner at Mercer Management Consulting, based in Washington, DC, where his focus was on strategy engagements across a variety of industries. Last year, Mr. Haji was a Visiting Fulbright Professor of Business Strategy in Tanzania, where he lectured in the MBA program at the Institute of Finance Management, the country's leading business school. Dan Leever, Chairman and CEO stated, "We are gratified to report continued solid performance in light of difficult end markets that show no signs of improvement. We are continuing to emphasize cash flow and are reasonably satisfied with the $23.9 million in owner earnings. We are not satisfied with the progress in working capital management and will continue to emphasize this key metric. In the quarter we acquired 1.350 million of our shares from Citigroup Venture Capital (CVC) for $30.5 million or $22.60 per share. We have an option agreement to acquire CVC's remaining 0.852 million shares at a price not to exceed $25 per share or about $22 million before early November. Our confidence in the ability to generate cash, and the improved tax efficiency of dividends has caused us to raise our dividend by 50% to $0.03 per quarter or $0.12 per annum. Our Board of Directors will continue to review our dividend policy in view of these new circumstances. The appointment of Mr. Haji illustrates the importance we place on reestablishing revenue growth. He will work closely with our businesses to insure we properly organize to take advantage of "game changing" technology breakthroughs. We are committed to winning by innovation. Salim will help us improve the internal systems to take maximum advantage of our planned increases in R&D and market development. Our third quarter is seasonally slow for us. Summer plant shut downs at our customers especially in Europe should have the effect of slowing underlying volume. Other than the seasonal weakness we are very optimistic about the future especially compared to certain competitors whose continuous retrenchment is creating opportunities for us".