COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 6, 2013 -- Mettler-Toledo International Inc. today announced fourth quarter results for 2012. Provided below are the highlights:

-- Sales in local currency increased by 2% in the quarter compared with the prior year. Reported sales increased 1%, which included a 1% negative currency impact.

-- Net earnings per diluted share as reported (EPS) were $3.35, compared with $2.91 in the fourth quarter of 2011. Adjusted EPS was $3.47, an increase of 20% over the prior-year amount of $2.88. Adjusted EPS is a non-GAAP measure and excludes purchased intangible amortization, discrete tax items, restructuring charges and other one-time items. A reconciliation to EPS is provided on the last page of the attached schedules.

Fourth Quarter Results

Olivier Filliol, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We continued to face reduced growth in customer demand throughout the world, particularly in Europe. However, we benefited from the pro-active gross margin and cost control measures we undertook in response to this challenging macro environment. Consequently, although sales growth was modest, we achieved strong improvement in operating margins and very strong growth in EPS."

EPS was $3.35, compared with the prior-year amount of $2.91. Adjusted EPS was $3.47, an increase of 20% over the prior-year amount of $2.88.

Sales were $657.3 million, a 2% increase in local currency sales, compared with $648.4 million in the prior-year quarter. Reported sales increased 1%, which included a 1% negative currency impact. By region, local currency sales increased 5% in the Americas and 6% in Asia / Rest of World and decreased 4% in Europe. Adjusted operating income amounted to $153.4 million, a 17% increase from the prior-year amount of $131.7 million. Adjusted operating income is a non-GAAP measure, and a reconciliation to earnings before taxes is provided in the attached schedules.

Cash flow from operations was $111.7 million, compared with $103.2 million in the prior-year quarter.

Full Year Results

EPS was $9.14, compared with the prior-year amount of $8.21. Adjusted EPS was $9.67, an increase of 16% over the prior-year amount of $8.36.

Sales were $2.342 billion, a 4% increase in local currency sales, compared with $2.309 billion in the prior-year period. Reported sales growth was 1%, which included a 3% negative currency impact. For the year, local currency sales increased 5% in the Americas and 10% in Asia / Rest of World and decreased 2% in Europe. Adjusted operating income amounted to $444.5 million, a 12% increase from the prior-year amount of $398.5 million. Adjusted operating income is a non-GAAP measure, and a reconciliation to earnings before taxes is provided in the attached schedules.

Cash flow from operations was $327.7 million, compared with $280.9 million in the prior-year period.

Cost Control Measures

As part of the cost control measures announced in the second quarter of 2012, the Company recorded pre-tax restructuring charges of $5.4 million in the fourth quarter and $16.7 million in 2012.

Outlook

The Company updated its outlook for 2013 and noted that uncertainty in demand exists in most of its markets, which makes forecasting difficult. Based on today's assessment, management anticipates that local currency sales growth in 2013 will be in the range of 1% to 3%, with growth stronger in the second half of the year. This sales growth is expected to result in Adjusted EPS in the range of $10.30 to $10.55, an increase of 7% to 9%. This compares to previous guidance of Adjusted EPS in the range of $10.00 to $10.30.

The Company stated that based on its assessment of market conditions today, management anticipates that sales in constant currency in the first quarter of 2013 will be in line with the prior year and Adjusted EPS will be in the range of $1.75 to $1.80, an increase of 5% to 8%.

Adjusted EPS excludes purchased intangible amortization, discrete tax items, restructuring charges and other one-time items. While the Company has provided an outlook for Adjusted EPS, it has not provided an outlook for EPS as it would require an estimate of non-recurring items, which are not yet known.

Conclusion

Filliol concluded, "Uncertainty continues to exist in our markets and conditions will likely remain challenging until the second half of this year. We have made adjustments to our cost structure in light of the current macro environment but also continue to make meaningful investments for our long term growth. These include investments in emerging markets, sales and marketing programs, product development and our Blue Ocean initiative. We are confident in our ability to successfully execute our business strategies in this environment and believe we can continue to outgrow our markets and build our competitive position."

Other Matters

The Company will host a conference call to discuss its quarterly results today (Wednesday, February 6) at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. To hear a live webcast or replay of the call, visit the investor relations page on the Company's website at www.mt.com/investors . The presentation referenced in the conference call will be located on the website prior to the call.

METTLER TOLEDO is a leading global supplier of precision instruments and services. The Company has strong leadership positions in all businesses and believes it holds global number-one market positions in a majority of them. Specifically, METTLER TOLEDO is the largest provider of weighing instruments for use in laboratory, industrial and food retailing applications. The Company is also a leading provider in analytical instruments for use in life science, reaction engineering and real-time analytic systems used in drug and chemical compound development and process analytics instruments used for in-line measurement in production processes. In addition, METTLER TOLEDO is the largest supplier of end-of-line inspection systems used in production and packaging for food, pharmaceutical and other industries. Additional information about METTLER TOLEDO can be found at www.mt.com/investors .

Statements in this press release which are not historical facts constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our businesses' actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "intend," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please see the discussion on forward-looking statements in our current report on Form 8-K to which this release has been furnished as an exhibit. All of the forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed under the captions "Factors affecting our future operating results" and in the "Business" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recently completed fiscal year, which describe risks and factors that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in those forward-looking statements.