Sigma-Aldrich (Nasdaq: SIAL) Annual Sales Surpass $2 Bil...( Q4 2007 SALES INCREASE 14.6%. Q4 20...)

Q4 2007 SALES INCREASE 14.6%. Q4 2007 DILUTED EPS UP 20.8% TO $.64. 2008

DILUTED EPS GUIDANCE UP 7.7% - 12.0% TO $2.52 - $2.62 PER SHARE.

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

HIGHLIGHTS:

2007 Results (all percentage comparisons are to comparable periods in 2006):

-- Q4 2007 Sales Set New Quarterly Record: At $532.1 million, Q4 2007

sales reached a new quarterly high, beating the Q2 2007 record of

$507.5 million and driving full year 2007 sales to $2.039 billion.

Overall Q4 sales increased 14.6%, the highest quarterly gain in 2007

with all four business units reporting double-digit growth. Organic

sales growth of 5.5% was enhanced by a currency benefit of 6.8% and a

2.3% contribution from a February 2007 acquisition. Full year sales

grew 13.4%, with organic sales growth of 6.5% and currency and the

acquisition contributing 4.8% and 2.1%, respectively. Quarterly and

year-to-date comparisons and a reconciliation of reported to adjusted

sales growth can be found on page 10.

-- Operating And Pretax Margins Both Improved In 2007: Q4 2007 operating

and pretax income margins of 22.2% and 21.3%, respectively, and full

year 2007 operating and pretax income margins of 22.5% and 21.5%,

respectively, all represented improvements over comparable period 2006

results.

-- Strong EPS Growth Despite Higher Tax Rates: Q4 2007 diluted EPS

increased 20.8% to $.64, with full year 2007 diluted EPS up 14.1% to

$2.34. Favorable currency rates added $.08 and $.25 to reported EPS

for Q4 and full year 2007, respectively, but higher tax rates in Q4 and

full year 2007 partially offset improved pretax margins. A discussion

of tax rate differences and a reconciliation of currency adjusted

proforma to reported diluted EPS for the quarter and
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