MTS Board Authorizes 3.0 Million Share Purchase
Eden Prairie, Minn., Aug. 25, 2005 – MTS Systems Corporation (NASDAQ: MTSC), announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized a 3.0 million share purchase in addition to the approximately 300,000 shares remaining under an existing Board authorization in January of 2004. The new authorization is equal to about 15% percent of MTS’ shares outstanding July 2, 2005.
The Board’s authorization is the fourth such action in the past five fiscal years under which 4.3 million shares have been purchased and retired. The Company this week also announced its 95th consecutive quarterly cash dividend and the second increase in its dividend in the past two years.
“While investing for profitable growth in our core businesses – both internally and through acquisitions – continues to be the top priority use of our cash, our financial position enables us to return cash to shareholders through share purchases in addition to regular dividends,” said Sidney W. Emery, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “This authorization reflects the confidence of management and the Board in MTS’ global market position, operational momentum and continued cash generation capability.”
The authorization allows the Company to purchase the shares at prevailing market prices in the open market, via block purchases or in private transactions and may be discontinued at any time. MTS purchased 2.0 million shares in fiscal 2004, and 0.8 million shares through third quarter fiscal 2005.
About MTS Systems Corporation
MTS Systems Corporation is a global supplier of testing products and industrial sensors. MTS testing products help customers accelerate and improve their design, development, and manufacturing processes and are used for determining the mechanical behavior of materials, products, and structures. They include computer-based mechanical testing and simulation systems, modeling and testing software, and consulting services. MTS position sensors are used to improve the productivity, performance and safety of a wide variety of industrial equipment. MTS had 1,615 employees and revenue of $367 million for the fiscal year ended October 2, 2004. Additional information on MTS can be found on the worldwide web at http://www.mts.com.
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