DENTSPLY International Inc. Reports First Quarter 2005 Sales and Earni

    Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

    YORK, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 25, 2005--DENTSPLY International Inc. (NASDAQ:XRAY) today announced sales and earnings for the quarter ended March 31, 2005. Net sales decreased 1.8% to $407.0 million compared to $414.4 million reported for the first quarter of 2004. Net sales, excluding precious metal content, increased 3.0% in the first quarter of 2005. Sales, in the first quarter of 2005, were negatively affected by the implementation of changes in reimbursement for dental procedures in Germany, however, the balance of the world experienced positive internal growth.
    Net income from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2005 was $49.0 million, or $.60 per diluted share, an increase of 7.1% compared to income from continuing operations of $45.8 million, or $.56 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2004.
    Gary Kunkle, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented that, "The remarkably slow implementation of the dental reform within Germany has negatively impacted DENTSPLY's first quarter sales and earnings growth. Both patient confusion and significant delays in insurance claim processing associated with the reform has had negative repercussions throughout the German dental market, impacting the prosthetics market, (the dental lab industry) the hardest. We do believe, however, that there will be continued improvement throughout the year as these reforms are better understood and integrated."
    Mr. Kunkle also stated, "Outside of Germany, our growth remains encouraging, driven by new product introduction and our initiatives to improve sales force execution. We had the strongest quarterly growth in the United States that we have experienced since 2002. We are also very pleased with the continued growth in acceptance of Oraqix, our new needle-free local anesthetic for scaling and root planing procedures. Additionally, DENTSPLY has received approval of our new anesthetic manufacturing facility by the regulatory agencies for the U.K. and Australia, and has recently begun shipping to these regions. These positive trends along with other initiatives give us confidence in maintaining our earnings guidance of $2.59 - $2.63 for 2005."
    DENTSPLY will hold a conference call on Tuesday, April 26, 2005 at 8:30 AM Eastern Time. To access the call, dial 877-885-5820 (for domestic calls) and 706-643-9578 (for international calls). Conference I.D.: 4669372. This conference call will be broadcast live on the Internet at www.dentsply.com. An audio replay of the conference call will be available for two weeks. To access the replay, please dial (800) 642-1687 (for domestic calls) and (706) 645-9291 (for international calls).
    DENTSPLY designs, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of products for the dental market. The Company believes that it is the world's leading manufacturer and distributor of dental prosthetics, precious metal dental alloys, dental ceramics, endodontic instruments and materials, prophylaxis paste, dental sealants, ultrasonic scalers, and crown and bridge materials; the leading United States manufacturer and distributor of dental handpieces, dental x-ray film holders, film mounts and bone substitute/grafting materials; and a leading worldwide manufacturer or distributor of dental injectible anesthetics, impression materials, orthodontic appliances, dental cutting instruments and dental implants. The Company distributes its dental products in over 120 countries under some of the most well-established brand names in the industry.
    DENTSPLY is committed to the development of innovative, high quality, cost-effective new products for the dental market.
    This press release contains forward-looking information (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) regarding future events or the future financial performance of the company that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ materially from those in the projections or other forward-looking information set forth herein as a result of certain risk factors. These risk factors include without limitation; the continued strength of dental markets, the timing, success and market reception for our new and existing products, outcome of litigation, continued support of our products by influential dental professionals and changes in the general economic environment that could affect our business. Changes in such assumptions or factors could produce significantly different results.
    For an additional description of risk factors, please refer to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and its subsequent periodic reports on Forms 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

DENTSPLY INTERNATIONAL INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (IN THOUSANDS EXCEPT PER SHARE DATA)

THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, ---------------------------- 2005 2004 -------------- -------------

NET SALES $ 406,975 $ 414,359 NET SALES - Ex Precious Metals 369,336 358,589

COST OF PRODUCTS SOLD 198,034 210,467

GROSS PROFIT 208,941 203,892 % OF NET SALES 51.3% 49.2% % OF NET SALES - Ex Precious Metals 56.6% 56.9%

SELLING, GENERAL & ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES 138,548 133,062

RESTRUCTURING COSTS 268 724 -------------- -------------

INCOME FROM OPERATIONS 70,125 70,106 % OF NET SALES 17.2% 16.9% % OF NET SALES - Ex Precious Metals 19.0% 19.6%

NET INTEREST AND OTHER (INCOME) EXPENSE (225) 5,496 -------------- -------------

PRE-TAX INCOME 70,350 64,610

INCOME TAXES 21,301 18,842 -------------- -------------

INCOME FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS 49,049 45,768 % OF NET SALES 12.1% 11.0% % OF NET SALES - Ex Precious Metals 13.3% 12.8%

INCOME FROM DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS, NET OF TAX (INCLUDING GAIN ON SALE IN 2004 OF $43,031) - 43,064 -------------- ------------- NET INCOME $ 49,049 $ 88,832 ============== ============= EARNINGS PER SHARE - BASIC: CONTINUING OPERATIONS $ 0.61 $ 0.57 DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS - 0.54 -------------- ------------- TOTAL EARNINGS PER SHARE $ 0.61 $ 1.11 ============== ============= EARNINGS PER SHARE - DILUTIVE: CONTINUING OPERATIONS $ 0.60 $ 0.56 DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS - 0.53 -------------- ------------- TOTAL EARNINGS PER SHARE $ 0.60 $ 1.09 ============== =============

DIVIDENDS PER SHARE $ 0.0600 $ 0.0525

WEIGHTED AVERAGE NUMBER OF COMMON SHARES OUTSTANDING -BASIC 80,703 79,922 -DILUTIVE 82,289 81,501

DENTSPLY INTERNATIONAL INC. CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS (IN THOUSANDS)

MARCH 31, DECEMBER 31, 2005 2004 -------------- ------------ ASSETS

CURRENT ASSETS: CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS $ 436,702 $ 506,369 ACCOUNTS AND NOTES RECEIVABLE-TRADE, NET 251,259 238,873 INVENTORIES, NET 224,091 213,709 OTHER CURRENT ASSETS 113,640 97,458 -------------- ------------ TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 1,025,692 1,056,409

PROPERTY,PLANT AND EQUIPMENT, NET 396,790 407,527 GOODWILL, NET 977,496 996,262 IDENTIFIABLE INTANGIBLES ASSETS, NET 246,202 258,084 OTHER NONCURRENT ASSETS, NET 50,237 79,863 -------------- ------------

TOTAL ASSETS $ 2,696,417 $ 2,798,145 ============== ============

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY:

CURRENT LIABILITIES $ 393,418 $ 404,607 LONG-TERM DEBT 700,900 779,940 OTHER LIABILITIES 111,356 110,829 DEFERRED INCOME TAXES 56,338 58,196 -------------- ------------ TOTAL LIABILITIES 1,262,012 1,353,572

MINORITY INTEREST IN CONSOLIDATED SUBSIDIARIES 587 600 STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY 1,433,818 1,443,973 -------------- ------------

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY $ 2,696,417 $ 2,798,145 ============== ============

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CONTACT: DENTSPLY International Inc. William R. Jellison, 717-849-4243

KEYWORD: PENNSYLVANIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING MEDICAL DEVICES MEDICAL EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALLS SOURCE: DENTSPLY International Inc.

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