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April 2004

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Pump Industry Analyst

Thomas Industries Increported record earnings forthe year ended 31 December2003, on net sales that werean all time record for thecompany’s pump and com-pressor business.

2003 net income wasUS$37.3 million, up fromUS$32.7 million in 2002.Net sales for the year wereUS$376.8 million, well upon last year’s US$240.6 mil-lion. Net sales and netincome for 2002 includeonly four months of contri-butions from Rietschle,which was acquired inAugust 2002.

Looking ahead to 2004,CEO Timothy Brown saidthey are optimistic about

the year ahead as they antici-pate additional operationalimprovements within thepump and compressor busi-ness. “Our priorities will beon growing sales andimproving our operationswith particular emphasis onreducing costs, improvingon-time delivery and lower-ing our overall cost of quali-ty,” explained Brown.

The company recentlyannounced plans to shut itsfacility in Wuppertal, Ger-many, with an anticipatedcost for the first three quar-ters of 2004 of US$3 million.The Wuppertal product linewill be transferred to the newMemmingen facility by theend of June 2004. ■

Thomas Industries Inc,USA

Key Figures (US$ million)Quarter ended 31.12

2003 2002

Net Sales 99.6 85.4Of Which:Pump and Compressor 99.6 85.4

Cost of Product Sold 66.1 55.8

Gross Profit 33.6 29.6

Operating Income 14.1 14.7Of Which:Pump and Compressor 8.8 8.4

Net Income 8.5 8.7

Year ended 31.12

2003 2002

Net Sales 376.8 240.6Of Which:Pump and Compressor 376.8 240.6

Cost of Products Sold 246.8 154.9

Gross Profit 129.9 85.7

Operating Income 60.1 54.5Of Which:Pump and Compressor 36.7 31.7

Net Income 37.3 32.7

COMMENT

The Weir Group plc,UK

Key Figures1 (£ million)Year ended 26.12

2003 2002

Turnover 793.4 841.7Of Which:Engineering Products 428.9 429.2Engineering Services 188.9 153.4

Order Input 727.4 675.4

Operating Profit 63.5 62.2

Pre-tax Profit 56.7 60.0

Profit attributable to The Weir Group 42.9 50.2

1 Continuing operations

Weir’s 2003 performancewas shaped by operationalimprovements, new productdevelopment and successfulgeographic expansion. Theseactivities, together with theeconomic upturn that thecompany is beginning to seein a number of sectors, areexpected to contribute to animproved 2004 performance.

In 2003, turnover fromcontinuing businesses in-creased 0.9% to £793.4 mil-lion. Operating profit beforeinterest, tax, goodwill andexceptionals was £63.5 mil-lion compared with £57.7million last year, a 10.0%gain.

Engineering Productsturnover, which includesMinerals, Clear Liquid andValves & Controls, was inline with 2002 at £428.9 mil-lion, while operating profitincreased 7.2% to £34.9 mil-lion, driven by the strongerperformance from Mineralsand an improved result fromClear Liquid.

The results for Valves &Controls were affected bycontinued softness in thepower and nuclear markets

and one-off charges to ration-alize the French operationsand to improve the UK busi-ness. Order input respondedpositively to new product andsales initiatives. The contin-ued softness in the US andEuropean power markets wascountered by extensivegrowth in Asia.

Engineering Services’turnover increased 23% to£188.9 million, resulting inan operating profit of £20.6million against £15.3 millionin 2002. The improvementsreflect efforts to grow UKservice operations andexploit opportunities in thekey growth markets of NorthAmerica, Australia and theMiddle East.

In 2003 Weir committedextensive funds to new prod-uct development. In the ClearLiquid Division new productlines included the Unigliderange and the new RotojetVSR 2100 pump. A newrange of pumps from theMinerals Division introducedspecifically to boost marketshare in the Canadian oilsands industry has enjoyedencouraging initial results. ■

COMMENT