West Announces Second Quarter 20...( ...),Health

LIONVILLE, Pa., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE: WST) today announced its results for the second quarter of 2009. Summary comparative results were as follows:

    ($millions, except per-share data )    Three Months Ended
                                                June 30
                                             2009     2008

    Net Sales                               $261.0   $279.3
    Gross Profit                              78.7     83.6
    Reported Operating Profit                 28.6     42.6
    Adjusted Operating Profit (1)             29.0     37.4
    Reported Diluted EPS                     $0.57    $0.82
    Adjusted Diluted EPS(1)                  $0.58    $0.73

    (1) Reported second quarter results in each year included restructuring
    charges 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 6.6% lower in the quarter when compared to the prior year period, primarily due to adverse effects of foreign currency translation, which reduced reported sales by $20.2 million. Excluding currency translation effects, consolidated sales were 0.7% higher than in the prior year quarter.

Consolidated gross profit margin was 30.2% in the quarter, compared to 29.9% in the second quarter of 2008. The overall margin increase reflected the net positive effects of higher year-over-year sales prices and a more profitable sales mix, which together exceeded increases in production costs, including labor, utilities and other indirect costs. Raw material costs had a mixed effect on margi
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