ELGIN, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ: MIDD), a leading worldwide manufacturer of restaurant and foodservice cooking equipment, today reported record net sales and earnings for the second quarter ended June 28, 2008. Net earnings for the second quarter were $17,117,000 or $0.99 per share on net sales of $173,513,000 as compared to the prior year second quarter net earnings of $12,582,000 or $0.75 per share on net sales of $113,248,000. Net earnings for the six months ended June 28, 2008 were $30,298,000 or $1.76 per share on net sales of $334,396,000 as compared to net earnings of $23,302,000 or $1.39 per share on net sales of $218,943,000 in the prior year first six months.

Selim A. Bassoul Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, “Despite the challenging business conditions, we continued to realize growth in our commercial foodservice business driven by international growth, menu expansion at our restaurant chain customers, and the introduction of innovative products. We anticipate these factors will continue to drive sales growth in our commercial business in the second half of the year. While our food processing business realized lower sales in the first half due to restricted capital budgets at food processing customers, we continue to be excited about the introduction of new products, including the MP Advantage fryer, the MP ServoDrive former, and the IntelliJet water cutter, which we anticipate will begin to gain acceptance in the second half of 2008.”

Mr. Bassoul continued, “We also continue to invest in our international organization through the acquisition of leading brands and the addition of talent to our global organization. As previously announced, we completed the acquisitions of Giga and FriFri during the 2008 second quarter, which provide Middleby with a stronger international presence and along with our Houno combi-oven line provide Middleby with a complete product line of European cooking equipment to compliment our North American based products. We believe this will allow us to continue to accelerate our growth and penetration of the international markets.”

Bassoul further commented, “We were pleased with the progress at our recent 2007 and 2008 acquisitions. The 2007 acquisitions of Jade, Carter Hoffmann, MP Equipment, and Wells Bloomfield are generating a combined operating profit margin in excess of 15% as compared to less than 5% at the time of acquisition. The Star acquisition, completed in the first quarter of 2008, reported an operating profit margin in excess of 25% in the second quarter as compared to 20% at the time of acquisition. Each of these acquisitions was accretive to second quarter earnings per share. We are now in progress of implementing profit enhancement initiatives at the recent acquisitions of Giga and Frifri, which we anticipate will be accretive in 2009.”

A conference call will be held at 10:00 a.m. Central time on Friday, August 8 and can be accessed by dialing (706) 634-5099 and providing conference code 58720282 or through the investor relations section of The Middleby Corporation website at www.middleby.com. A digital replay of the call will be available approximately one half hour after its completion and can be accessed by calling (706) 645-9291 and providing code 58720282. A transcript of the call will also be posted to the company's website.

Statements in this press release or otherwise attributable to the Company regarding the Company's business which are not historical fact are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company cautions investors that such statements are estimates of future performance and are highly dependent upon a variety of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Such factors include variability in financing costs; quarterly variations in operating results; dependence on key customers; international exposure; foreign exchange and political risks affecting international sales; changing market conditions; the impact of competitive products and pricing; the timely development and market acceptance of the Company's products; the availability and cost of raw materials; and other risks detailed herein and from time-to-time in the Company's SEC filings.

The Middleby Corporation is a global leader in the foodservice equipment industry. The company develops, manufactures, markets and services a broad line of equipment used for commercial food cooking, preparation and processing. The company's leading equipment brands serving the commercial foodservice industry include Blodgett®, Blodgett Combi®, Blodgett Range®, Bloomfield®, Carter Hoffmann®, CTX®, frifri®, Giga®, Holman®, Houno®, Jade®, Lang®, MagiKitch'n®, Middleby Marshall®, Nu-Vu®, Pitco Frialator®, Southbend®, Star®, Toastmaster® and Wells®. The company’s leading equipment brands serving the food processing industry include Alkar®, MP Equipment®, and RapidPak®. The Middleby Corporation was recognized by Business Week as one of the Top 100 Hot Growth Companies of 2007, by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of the Fastest 50 Growth Companies in 2007, and by Forbes as one of the Best Small Companies in 2006.

For more information about The Middleby Corporation and the company brands, please visit www.middleby.com.


THE MIDDLEBY CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS
(Amounts in 000's, Except Per Share Information)
(Unaudited)



	2^nd Qtr, 2008		2^nd Qtr, 2007			2^nd Qtr, 2008		2^nd Qtr, 2007
Net sales	$	173,513	$	113,248		$	334,396	$	218,943
Cost of sales		106,505		68,362			208,486		132,952

Gross profit		67,008		44,886			125,910		85,991

Selling & distribution expenses		16,676		11,952			32,921		23,068
General & administrative expenses		17,840		11,732			34,481		22,915

Income from operations		32,492		21,202			58,508		40,008


Interest expense and deferred financing amortization, net		3,039		1,273			6,742		2,517
Other (income), net		561		(630	)		948		(737	)

Earnings before income taxes		28,892		20,559			50,818		38,228

Provision for income taxes		11,775		7,977			20,520		14,926

Net earnings	$	17,117	$	12,582		$	30,298	$	23,302


Net earnings per share:

Basic	$	1.07	$	0.80		$	1.89	$	1.50

Diluted	$	0.99	$	0.75		$	1.76	$	1.39
Weighted average number shares:

Basic		15,990		15,641			16,022		15,576

Diluted		17,244		16,875			17,206		16,808


THE MIDDLEBY CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Amounts in 000's)
(Unaudited)


	Jun. 28, 2008		Dec. 29, 2007
ASSETS

Cash and cash equivalents	$	7,049	$	7,463
Accounts receivable, net		102,783		73,090
Inventories, net		91,574		66,438
Prepaid expenses and other		9,804		10,341
Prepaid taxes		6,303		17,986
Current deferred tax assets		14,614		11,095
Total current assets		232,127		186,413

Property, plant and equipment, net		46,208		36,774

Goodwill		247,929		134,800
Other intangibles		127,438		52,581
Other assets		3,041		3,079

Total assets	$	656,743	$	413,647


LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Current maturities of long-term debt	$	8,705	$	2,683
Accounts payable		42,868		26,576
Accrued expenses		92,772		95,581
Total current liabilities		144,345		124,840

Long-term debt		265,868		93,514
Long-term deferred tax liability		24,777		2,568
Other non-current liabilities		22,617		9,813

Stockholders’ equity		199,136		182,912

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	$	656,743	$	413,647

CONTACT:
The Middleby Corporation
Darcy Bretz, Investor and Public Relations,
(847) 429-7756
or
Tim Fitzgerald, Chief Financial Officer,
(847) 429-7744