Rogers Corporation News

Rogers, Connecticut, July 21, 2004: Rogers Corporation (NYSE:ROG) announced today that diluted earnings per share for the second quarter of 2004 were $0.68, up 113% compared to the $0.32 earned in the second quarter of 2003. Net income increased to $11.8 million, more than double last year’s second quarter earnings of $5.2 million. As a percent of sales, net income was 12.6% this quarter, up from 10.6% last year.

Net sales in the second quarter were $93.3 million, up 90% compared to the $49.2 million sold in the second quarter of 2003. The Durel acquisition which occurred in the fourth quarter of 2003, added $11.9 million to revenues this quarter. Continuing the trend of the first quarter, all three of Rogers’ business segments experienced double-digit sales growth this quarter as compared to the second quarter of 2003.

Sales of Printed Circuit Materials for the quarter again set a new all-time sales record totaling $47.4 million, up 115% over the second quarter of 2003. Flexible circuit material sales continue to be driven by the demand for high quality interconnects used increasingly in complex end-user products, such as high-end cell telephones. Additionally flexible circuit material sales improved as a result of greater availability of polyimide film late in the quarter, and supplemental capacity provided by toll manufacturing at the Company’s Taiwan joint venture. 3G cellular infrastructure and satellite television were again the source of increased sales of high frequency circuit materials, which also grew significantly over last year’s second quarter.

High Performance Foams revenues were $21.9 million for the quarter, up 28% from the second quarter of last year. PORON® urethane foam product sales remained strong in the quarter, and were up significantly over last year’s second quarter. This period also marked an all-time quarterly sales record for BISCO® silicone foam products, with industrial, transportation and computing applications all contributing to higher sales. Polyolefin foam revenues remained relatively flat as the Company concentrates on completing the transition to the new facility in Carol Stream, Illinois.

Sales of Polymer Materials and Components totaled $24.0 million for the quarter. This quarter’s revenue includes sales of Durel, formerly a 50-50 joint venture with 3M. Within this business segment, both elastomer components and busbars achieved double-digit year-over-year increases. Durel sales experienced a 15% year-over-year decline due to an anticipated trend away from monochrome cell phone displays. The Company expects a continued decline for Durel in the third quarter with improved sales in the fourth quarter driven by the ramp up of new flexible keypad lamp programs. The move of the elastomer components business to China is progressing as planned and should be completed by year-end.

Rogers’ three 50% owned joint ventures had total sales this quarter of $18.3 million compared to $13.0 million in the second quarter of 2003. Revenues of Rogers Inoac Corporation (RIC) grew more than 42%, while Rogers Chang Chun Technologies (RCCT), utilizing a greater supply of polyimide film, had sales increase over seven times that of last year’s second quarter. Polyimide Laminate Systems (PLS), the Company’s third joint venture, experienced a 40% sales decline over last year’s second quarter, as the hard disk drive industry underwent significant inventory corrections.

Gross margin for the quarter was 33.9%, up from 30% in last year’s second quarter. The Company continues to see operational improvements as the result of implementing Six Sigma projects and improved capacity utilization. Margins continue to be negatively impacted by the polyolefin foam business transition to Illinois and the elastomer components products move to China. Rogers’ effective tax rate remained at 25% this quarter.

Cash and short-term investments ended the second quarter at $33.7 million and the Company remains debt free. Capital expenditures were $6.9 million for the quarter and $13.5 million year-to-date.

Robert D. Wachob, President and CEO, commented, “We are pleased with the sustained year-over-year growth in our strategic businesses this quarter. Our top end markets, namely 3G cellular infrastructure, satellite television, and handsets, all remain healthy and we are experiencing increased market penetration. Our performance in the third quarter will be impacted by end of life programs for Durel, a traditional soft third quarter in high performance foams, the normal summer slowdown in Europe, the continuation of most of the business transition expenses, and the cresting of consulting and audit expenses directly related to compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. On the positive side, we have an increased polyimide film supply, a seasonal pick up in satellite television demand, steady 3G-infrastructure usage, and pre-production sales of flexible electroluminescent lamps into three new keypad handset applications. All of these factors lead us to project third quarter sales of $87 to $95 million, with earnings per diluted share of $0.59 to $0.67, which both represent 61% increases over last year, at the midpoints.”

Safe Harbor Statement
Statements in this news release that are not strictly historical may be deemed to be “forward-looking” statements which should be considered as subject to the many uncertainties that exist in the Company’s operations and environment. These uncertainties, which include economic conditions, market demand and pricing, competitive and cost factors, rapid technological change, new product introductions, legal proceedings, and the like, are incorporated by reference in the Rogers Corporation 2003 Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.

Additional Information and July 22nd Conference Call

For more information, please contact the Company directly, visit Rogers’ web site on the Internet, or send a message by email.

Website Address: http://www.rogerscorporation.com
Financial News Contact: James M. Rutledge, Vice President Finance and Chief Financial Officer, 
Phone: 860-774-9605, FAX: 860-779-5585
Editorial Contact: Edward J. Joyce, Manager of Investor and Public Relations
Phone: 860-779-5705, FAX: 860-779-5509
email: edward.joyce@rogerscorporation.com

A conference call to discuss second quarter results will be held on Thursday, July 22nd at 9:00AM (Eastern Time).

Rogers participants in the conference call will be:

• Robert D. Wachob, President and CEO 
• James M. Rutledge, Vice President Finance and CFO 
• Robert M. Soffer, Vice President and Secretary 
• Paul B. Middleton, Corporate Controller

A Q&A session will immediately follow management’s comments.

To participate in the conference call, please call: 1-800-574-8929 toll-free in the United States and 1-706-634-1907 internationally. There is no passcode for the live teleconference. For playback access, please call: 1-800-642-1687 in the United States and 1-706-645-9291 internationally through 11:59PM, Thursday July 29th. The pass code for the audio replay is 8512903.

The call will also be webcast live in a listen only mode. The webcast may be accessed through links available on the Rogers Corporation website at www.rogerscorporation.com. Replay of the archived webcast will be available on the Rogers website beginning two hours following the webcast.