Sigma-Aldrich (Nasdaq:SIAL) Reports Q2 2009 Diluted EPS of $0.68; YTD Diluted EPS up 1.5% to $1.36. Full Year 2009 Guidance Reaffirmed, With 2009 Diluted EPS Expected to Exceed 200...( ST. LOUIS July 23 /-Sigma...)

ST. LOUIS, July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (Nasdaq: SIAL), a leading Life Science and High Technology company, reported second quarter 2009 diluted EPS of $0.68 compared to $0.70 in the second quarter of 2008. For the six months ended June 30, 2009, reported diluted EPS was $1.36, a 1.5% increase from the $1.34 reported for the first six months of 2008. Excluding the negative impact of currency, EPS would have been $0.79 and $1.60, a 12.9% and 19.4% increase for the second quarter and first six months of 2009, respectively. A reconciliation of proforma to reported EPS is on page 8.

CEO's STATEMENT:

Commenting on second quarter 2009 performance and full year 2009 expectations, Chairman, President and CEO Jai Nagarkatti said: "We are very pleased with our second quarter sales and operating performance in this challenging economic climate. We're also particularly pleased with our ability to improve profitability through continued implementation of our supply chain initiatives and other cost controls to largely offset the challenges of the current market on our sales and profit performance and the currency impact. We're continuing to add new and innovative products and services that we believe will differentiate our Company in the life science and high technology markets we serve."

Nagarkatti continued, "We've reaffirmed our sales and profit expectations for all of 2009, believing that we can repeat our first half performance for the remainder of the year, even with a continuation of the challenging market conditions. We continued to invest in new products, in sales and marketing initiatives and in facilities that are expected to enable us to achieve above-market rate organic sales growth. And we plan to continue to drive process impro
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