8-K

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D. C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

OCTOBER 20, 2003

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported)

DIONEX CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware	000-11250	94-2647429
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)	(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer Identification Number)

1228 Titan Way,
Sunnyvale, CA 94088

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

(408) 737-0700

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXHIBIT 99.1

Item 12. Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

     On October 20, 2003, Dionex issued a press release announcing the financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2003. A copy of the press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report and is incorporated herein by reference.

     This information shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.

SIGNATURE

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, hereunto duly authorized.

	DIONEX CORPORATION
Dated: October 20, 2003	By:	/s/ Craig A. McCollam
		Craig A. McCollam
		Vice President, Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer

INDEX TO EXHIBITS

Exhibit Number	Description
99.1	Press Release of Dionex Corporation dated October 20, 2003.

EX-99.1 3 f93731exv99w1.htm EXHIBIT 99.1

Exhibit 99.1

October 20, 2003	Contact: Craig A. McCollam
	Dionex Corporation
	(408) 481-4107

DIONEX REPORTS RECORD FIRST QUARTER RESULTS

FOR RELEASE MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2003 1:05 P.M. PDT

Sunnyvale, California — Dionex Corporation (NASDAQ: DNEX) today announced revenues and earnings for its first quarter ended September 30, 2003.

Sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2004 were $53.3 million, an increase of 13% compared to the $47.3 million reported in first quarter of fiscal 2003. The favorable impact of currency fluctuations increased sales by 5% for the quarter. Operating income for the quarter grew 24% to 22% of sales. Diluted earnings per share were $.35, an increase of 21% compared to the $.29 reported last year. Cash flow from operations was also very strong totaling approximately $13 million, or 25% of sales.

During the first quarter, the Company repurchased 282,100 shares of its common stock.

A.     Blaine Bowman, Chairman of the Board, commenting on the results, said, “We are very pleased with our first quarter results. These results are records for a first quarter in both sales and earnings per share. They also continue a string of six consecutive quarters of strong growth in sales and earnings. In each of our major geographic regions and across all of our major product lines, we again experienced solid growth. We believe that we have good momentum heading into our second quarter.”

Lukas Braunschweiler, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We experienced very strong growth in the first quarter. Our North American business increased sales in the mid teens, with particularly strong results from the government sector. Europe reported another quarter of solid growth, as sales grew in the mid teens in reported growth and mid-single digits in local currency. Our Asia/Pacific region grew nicely with sales growing in the high-single digits. We also saw continued strong growth in both our IC and HPLC product lines.

“We continued to experience strong dynamics in our key life sciences and environmental markets. In our other markets, we reported solid results with all of our markets growing, except power.

“Looking at the second quarter of fiscal 2004, we estimate that sales will be in the range of $60-$62 million and earnings per share in the range of $.44-$.46, given the good momentum observed in the first quarter. For the entire year, we are increasing our guidance; we believe that our sales will be in the range of $233-$239 million and our earnings per share in the range of $1.69-$1.75. In developing these estimates, we believe that our recently introduced products will again have a positive impact and that there will not be a significant change in economic conditions in North America or Europe. Our guidance also presumes that currency rates will not fluctuate significantly from where they were at September 30, 2003.

“We further strengthened our executive management team, as of October 1, 2003. The executive team now includes 3 vice presidents over each of our major geographic sales & service regions. David Bow joined Dionex as head of North American Sales and Service and Corporate Marketing. David has 17 years of experience in our industry, most recently as President of Genesis Chemicals and of Buffers & Biochemicals Corporation. Rene Trost was promoted to Vice President, European Sales and Service. Rene has run our European operations for the last 3 years and has worked for Dionex for 10 years. Bruce Barton was promoted to Vice President, Asia/Pacific Sales and Service. Bruce has worked in various sales and marketing functions at Dionex for the last 16 years, most recently being responsible for our successful China and worldwide distributor businesses.”

Dionex Corporation is a leading manufacturer and marketer of chromatography systems for chemical analysis. The Company’s systems are used in environmental analysis and by the life sciences, food and beverage, chemicals, petrochemicals, power generation and electronics industries in a variety of applications.

The company will discuss first quarter results in a conference call on Monday, October 20, 2003, at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (PT). To listen to the call live, please tune into the webcast via www.Dionex.com. A playback of the conference call will be available from 8:00 a.m. PT, Tuesday, October 21, 2003 until 5:00 p.m. PT Monday, November 3, 2003.

Certain statements regarding sales and earnings contained herein that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. Factors that may affect sales and earnings causing actual results to differ from these statements are foreign currency fluctuations, competition from other products, economic conditions in the areas in which the company sells its products, and existing product obsolescence. These factors and other risks and uncertainties are discussed in greater detail in the Company’s Reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

—TABLES FOLLOW—

DIONEX CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
(Unaudited)

			Three Months Ended
			September 30,
			2003			2002
Net sales			$	53,276		$	47,272
Cost of sales				18,008			16,951
Gross profit				35,268			30,321
Operating expenses:
	Selling, general and administrative			19,168			17,117
	Research and product development			4,571			3,906
		Total operating expenses		23,739			21,023
Operating income				11,529			9,298
Interest income, net				49			17
Other income (expense)				(332	)		32
Income before taxes on income				11,246			9,347
Taxes on income				3,655			3,038
		Net income	$	7,591		$	6,309
Basic earnings per share			$	0.36		$	0.30
Diluted earnings per share			$	0.35		$	0.29
Shares used in computing per share amounts:
	Basic			20,981			21,122
	Diluted			21,786			21,545

DIONEX CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
AT SEPTEMBER 30, 2003 AND JUNE 30, 2003
(In thousands)

					September 30,		June 30,
					2003		2003
					(Unaudited)
ASSETS
	Current assets:
		Cash and equivalents			$	54,113	$	46,831
		Marketable equity securities				1,535		1,402
		Accounts receivable, net				41,537		46,613
		Inventories				24,924		25,462
		Other current assets				13,669		12,737
				Total current assets		135,778		133,045
	Property, plant and equipment, net					45,914		45,436
	Goodwill and other intangible assets					28,602		28,856
	Other assets					5,491		5,763
					$	215,785	$	213,100
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
	Current liabilities:
		Notes payable			$	1,839	$	1,334
		Accounts payable				5,958		5,443
		Accrued liabilities				26,089		29,045
		Income taxes payable				4,264		6,189
		Accrued product warranty				3,242		3,188
			Total current liabilities			41,392		45,199
	Deferred income taxes and other					8,205		8,121
	Long term debt					404		500
	Stockholders’ equity					165,784		159,280
					$	215,785	$	213,100

XXXX

-----END PRIVACY-ENHANCED MESSAGE-----

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1