Avery Dennison Confirms Third-Quarter Earnings Expectation

Business Wire, Sept 28, 1999

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 28, 1999--

Avery Dennison Corp. (NYSE:AVY) (PCX:AVY) today provided an overview of its operations and growth strategies to financial analysts, affirming that the company expects to meet or exceed the Wall Street consensus earnings estimate for the 1999 third quarter.

"We have raised our earnings expectations twice this year, and beat our targets in both the first and second quarters," said Philip M. Neal, president and chief executive officer of Avery Dennison, at a chemical industry conference sponsored by the investment brokerage firm of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.

"We fully expect our earnings per share to be in line or better than expectations for the current quarter and the remainder of the year," Neal said. "In fact, we are confident that we will deliver earnings-per-share growth in the mid-teens range for 1999, excluding a one-time restructuring charge in the first quarter, and we are targeting continued double-digit earnings-per-share growth for 2000 and beyond."

Neal reported that Avery Dennison businesses worldwide are performing well and positioned for top-line growth. He outlined key opportunities in the company's Pressure-sensitive Materials, Office Products and Graphics businesses, and reviewed several recent value-enhancing acquisitions. Avery Dennison's focus on continued margin expansion was also highlighted, including updates on the restructuring program announced in January and several productivity improvement initiatives.

"We have built a tremendous platform for value creation, both in the short and longer term. We are very confident about our growth and earnings prospects for 1999 and beyond," Neal concluded.

Avery Dennison is a global leader in pressure-sensitive technology and innovative self-adhesive solutions for consumer products and label materials. Based in Pasadena, Calif., the company had 1998 sales of $3.5 billion.

Avery Dennison develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of products for consumer and industrial markets, including Avery-brand office products, Fasson-brand self-adhesive materials, peel-and-stick postage stamps, battery labels, reflective highway safety products, automated retail tag and labeling systems, and specialty tapes and chemicals.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information presented in this news release may constitute "forward-looking" statements. These statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Actual results and trends may differ materially from historical or expected results depending on a variety of factors, including but not limited to availability of raw materials, foreign exchange rates, worldwide and local economic conditions, fluctuations in consumer demand affecting sales to, and production and inventory levels at, customer companies and other matters referred to in the company's SEC filings.

For more information visit the Avery Dennison Web site at

www.averydennison.com