West Announces First Quarter 20...( - Adjusted Diluted EPS (1) was $0.42 ...),Health

- Adjusted Diluted EPS (1) was $0.42 -

- Annual Guidance Narrowed to $2.05 to $2.18 Adjusted Diluted EPS(1) -

- Conference Call Scheduled for 9 a.m. Today -

LIONVILLE, Pa., April 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE: WST) today announced its results for the first quarter of 2009. Summary comparative results were as follows:

    ($millions, except per-share data )    Three Months Ended
                                               March 31
                                          2009           2008

    Net Sales                           $242.4         $270.7
    Gross Profit                          69.3           83.5
    Reported Operating Profit             21.2           38.1
    Adjusted Operating Profit (1)         21.9           37.8
    Reported Diluted EPS                 $0.46          $0.76
    Adjusted Diluted EPS(1)              $0.42          $0.72

    (1) Reported first quarter results in each year included
        restructuring charges and discrete tax benefits and, in 2008,
        income from a contract settlement. See the corresponding notes
        under "Supplemental Information and Notes to Non-GAAP Financial
        Measures" in the tables following the text of this release.

Consolidated sales were 10.4% lower in the quarter when compared to the prior year period, of which 7.5 percentage points, or $20.3 million, were due to the adverse effects of currency on the translation of foreign sales into U.S. dollars. The balance was attributed to customers' inventory reductions in both healthcare and consumer goods markets and regulatory interruptions at customer facilities.

Consolidated gross profit margin was 28.6% in the quarter, compared to 30.8% in the first quarter of 20
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