FORM 10-Q

Commission file number 0-7977

NORDSON CORPORATION

(440) 892-1580

(Telephone Number)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
None
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
Common Shares with no par value

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Yes x No o

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act)
Yes x No o

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date: Common Shares with no par value as of July 30, 2004: 36,272,837

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Table of Contents

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Part I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ITEM 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED)

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income

See accompanying notes.

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Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet

See accompanying notes.

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Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

See accompanying notes.

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Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

August 1, 2004

1.		Basis of Presentation. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the quarter ended August 1, 2004 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full fiscal year. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended November 2, 2003. Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to current period presentation.
2.		Revenue Recognition. Most of the Company’s revenues are recognized upon shipment, provided that persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, the sales price is fixed or determinable, collectibility is reasonably assured, and title and risk of loss have passed to the customer. A limited number of the Company’s large engineered systems sales contracts are accounted for using the percentage-of-completion method. The amount of revenue recognized in any accounting period is based on the ratio of actual costs incurred through the end of the period to total estimated costs at completion. The remaining revenues are recognized upon delivery.
3.		Use of Estimates. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements. Actual amounts could differ from these estimates.
4.		Accounting Changes. In November 2002, the FASB issued Interpretation No. 45, “Guarantor’s Accounting and Disclosure Requirements for Guarantees, Including Indirect Guarantees of Indebtedness to Others.” This interpretation addresses the disclosures to be made by a guarantor in its interim and annual financial statements regarding its obligations under guarantees and clarifies the requirements related to the recognition of liabilities by a guarantor for obligations undertaken in issuing guarantees. The initial recognition and measurement provisions of the interpretation are applicable to guarantees issued or modified after December 31, 2002 and did not have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements. The disclosure requirements are effective for financial statements for periods ending after December 31, 2002 and are applicable for all outstanding guarantees subject to the interpretation. The Company has issued guarantees to two banks to support the short-term borrowing facilities of a South Korean affiliate. One guarantee is for Korean Won Three Billion (approximately $2,572,000) secured by land and building and expires on January 31, 2005. The other guarantee is for $2,300,000 and expires on October 31, 2004. As discussed in the following paragraph, the Company began consolidating this affiliate in the second quarter of 2004.
		In January 2003, the FASB issued Interpretation No. 46, “Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities.” This Interpretation addresses consolidation by business enterprises of variable interest entities, which possess certain characteristics. The interpretation requires that if a business enterprise has a controlling financial interest in a variable interest entity, the assets, liabilities and results of operations of the variable interest entity must be included in the consolidated financial statements with those of the business enterprise. This interpretation applies immediately to variable interest entities created after January 31, 2003 and to variable interest entities in which an enterprise obtains an interest after that date. For variable interest entities created prior to January 31, 2003, this interpretation is effective for the first year or interim period beginning after March 15, 2004. In the second quarter of 2004, the Company began consolidating a 49 percent-owned South Korean joint venture/distributor of the Company’s products. Real estate with a net book value of approximately $750,000 serves as collateral for one of the bank loans noted above. Other than the bank guarantees noted above, creditors of the joint venture/distributor have no recourse against the Company.

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		The Company’s initial investment in this joint venture/distributor occurred in 1989. The effect on the Company’s financial statements was not material.
		In December 2003, the FASB revised Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 132, “Employers’ Disclosures about Pensions and other Postretirement Benefits.” The revision established additional annual disclosures about plan assets, investment strategy, measurement date, plan obligations and cash flows. In addition, the revised standard established interim disclosure requirements related to the net periodic benefit cost recognized and contributions paid or expected to be paid during the current fiscal year. The new annual disclosures are effective for financial statements with fiscal years ending after December 15, 2003, and the interim-period disclosures are effective for interim periods beginning after December 15, 2003. The annual disclosures will be adopted for the 2004 fiscal year. The interim disclosures for the fiscal quarter ending August 1, 2004 are reported in Note 11 below. The adoption of the revised No. 132 will have no impact on our results of operation or financial condition.
		In May 2004, the FASB issued Staff Position No. FSP 106-2, “Accounting and Disclosure Requirements Related to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003,” in response to a new law that provides prescription drug benefits under Medicare (“Medicare Part D”) as well as a federal subsidy to sponsors of retiree health care benefit plans that provide a benefit that is at least actuarially equivalent to Medicare Part D. Currently, Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 106, “Employers’ Accounting for Postretirement Benefits Other Than Pensions” (“No. 106”) requires that changes in relevant law be considered in current measurement of postretirement benefit costs. The Company’s measures of the accumulated postretirement benefit obligation and the net periodic postretirement benefit cost do not reflect the effects of the subsidy, because it has not yet been concluded whether the benefits under the Company’s plan are actuarially equivalent to Medicare Part D. FSP No. 106-2 will be effective beginning in the fourth quarter of 2004.
5.		Inventories. Inventories consisted of the following:

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6.

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets. Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the three quarters ended August 1, 2004 by operating segment are as follows:

Information regarding the Company’s intangible assets subject to amortization is as follows:

At August 1, 2004 and November 2, 2003, $2,152,000 of intangible assets related to a minimum pension liability for the Company’s pension plans were not subject to amortization.

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Amortization expense for the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended August 1, 2004 was $439,000 and $1,404,000, respectively. Estimated amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years is as follows:

7.

Comprehensive income. Comprehensive income for the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended August 1, 2004 and August 3, 2003 is as follows:

Accumulated other comprehensive loss at August 1, 2004 and August 3,2003 consisted of:

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Year-to-date changes in accumulated other comprehensive loss at for 2004 and 2003 are as follows:

8.

Company Stock Plans. The Company accounts for its stock option plans under the recognition and measurement principles of APB Opinion No. 25, “Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees.” No stock option expense is reflected in net income, as all options granted under these plans had an exercise price equal to the market value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant. The following table shows pro forma information regarding net income and earnings per share as if the Company had accounted for stock options granted since 1996 under the fair value method.

9.

Warranty Accrual. The Company offers warranty to its customers depending on the specific product and terms of the customer purchase agreement. Most of the Company’s product warranties are customer specific. A typical warranty program requires that the Company repair or replace defective products within a specified time period from the date of delivery or first use. The Company records an estimate for future warranty-related costs based on actual historical return rates. Based on analysis of return rates and other factors, the adequacy of the Company’s warranty provisions are adjusted as necessary. The liability for warranty costs is included in other current liabilities in the Consolidated Balance Sheet.

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Following is a reconciliation (in thousands of dollars) of the product warranty liability for the first three quarters of 2004:

10.		Operating segments. The Company conducts business across three primary business segments: adhesive dispensing and nonwoven fiber systems, coating and finishing systems and advanced technology systems. The composition of segments and measure of segment profitability is consistent with that used by the Company’s chief operating decision maker. The primary focus is operating profit, which equals sales less operating costs and expenses. Beginning in 2004, the method of measuring segment operating profit was modified. A larger portion of corporate expenses is now being allocated to the three primary business segments. Additional corporate expenses of $4,877,000 and $13,351,000 for the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended August 1, 2004, respectively, were allocated to the three business segments compared to the prior method of measuring segment profit. These expenses represent costs incurred to support all business segments, including human resources, legal, finance and certain employee benefit costs. Prior year segment results have been reclassified to conform to the new measurement of segment operating profit. Additional expense amounts of $3,506,000 and $10,353,000 for the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended August 3, 2003, respectively, were allocated to the three business segments. Operating profit excludes interest income (expense), investment income (net) and other income (expense). Items below the operating income line of the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income are not presented by segment, since they are excluded from the measure of segment profitability reviewed by the Company’s chief operating decision maker. The accounting policies of the segments are generally the same as those described in Note 1, Significant Accounting Policies, of the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended November 2, 2003.
		In the second quarter of 2004, the Company realigned its geographic reporting. Previously, sales were reported in four regions, North America, Europe, Japan and Pacific South. The regions are now defined as United States, Americas (Canada and Latin America), Europe, Japan and Asia Pacific. Prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the new alignment.
		Nordson products are used in a diverse range of industries, including appliance, automotive, bookbinding, container, converting, electronics, food and beverage, furniture, medical, metal finishing, nonwovens, packaging, semiconductor and other diverse industries. Nordson sells its products primarily through a direct, geographically dispersed sales force.

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The following table presents information about the Company’s reportable segments: