Business News

Danaher Announces Record Second Quarter Results

Thursday 17. July 2008 - Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) announced today that net earnings from continuing operations for the quarter ended June 27, 2008 were $363 million, or $1.09 per diluted share, an 18% increase as compared to the Company's 2007 second quarter net earnings from continuing operations of $308 million, or $0.95 per diluted share. Included in the 2008 second quarter earnings per share results were certain non-cash charges related to the acquisition of Tektronix for fair value adjustments to recorded inventory and deferred revenue which reduced net earnings by $10 million or $0.03 per diluted share in the period.

The Company’s tax rate for the quarter was 24% which benefited from certain favorable discrete tax benefits as well as a slightly lower effective tax rate within the quarter. The positive impact of this lower tax rate as compared to the Company’s expected tax rate of 26.5% was approximately $0.04 per share in the 2008 second quarter. Approximately $0.03 per share relates to discrete tax matters in the quarter and approximately $0.01 per share relates to the lower overall effective tax rate. Included in the second quarter 2007 diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations is a gain of approximately $0.02 per share related to the collection of indemnification proceeds related to a litigation matter. Absent the Tektronix related charges, the discrete tax benefit and the prior year gain, adjusted net earnings from continuing operations were $365 million or $1.09 per diluted share, a 22% increase over last year’s second quarter adjusted net earnings from continuing operations of $299 million, or $0.93 per diluted share.

Sales from continuing operations for the 2008 second quarter were $3.28 billion, 25% higher than the $2.63 billion reported for the 2007 second quarter.

Net earnings from continuing operations for the first six months of 2008 were $640 million, or $1.92 per diluted share, compared with net earnings from continuing operations of $559 million, or $1.72 per diluted share for the first six months of 2007.

Sales from continuing operations for the first six months of 2008 were $6.31 billion compared to $5.15 billion for the first six months of 2007, an increase of 22.5%.

H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are pleased with our record second quarter results. Revenue growth from existing businesses was 5.5% and was broad-based. In addition, record quarterly free cash flow of $537 million attests to the quality of our financial performance. Despite the current economic backdrop we believe our businesses are well positioned to deliver positive results for the balance of 2008.”