Beckman Coulter Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2008 Results; Earnings Outlook Achieved on Strong Fu...(et earnings and earnings per share the G...)

Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure that management believes provides useful supplemental information for management and investors. Adjusted EBITDA is a tool that provides a measure of the adjusted net earnings, as described above, of the business before considering the impact of interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. We believe adjusted EBITDA provides management with a means to analyze and evaluate the profitability of our business and its ability to generate cash flow before the effect of interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. A reconciliation of net earnings, the GAAP measure most directly comparable to adjusted EBITDA, is provided on the attached schedule.

Adjusted tax rate excludes the incremental tax effect of income and expense items excluded from adjusted operating income, as described above, and non-operating income and expense items that we do not expect to be recurring. A reconciliation of the tax rate, the GAAP measure most directly comparable to adjusted tax rate, is provided on the attached schedule.

Free cash flow is a non-GAAP measure that management believes provides useful supplemental information for management and investors, because it reports the cash provided by operating activities after cash invested in property, plant and equipment. We believe this measure provides management and investors with a measure to determine the health of the business and cash flow generated by the business in excess of the cash needed to be reinvested in the business. A reconciliation of cash provided by operating activities, the GAAP measure most directly comparable to free cash flow, is provided on the attached schedule.

Our discussion of international revenue includes comparisons on a constant currency basis, which we have
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