Sales for the first nine months of the year were $113.1 million compared to sales of $113.1 million in the comparable period last year.

Net income for the third quarter was $3.7 million, compared to $4.9 million during the same period last year, a decrease of 24%. Net income for the first nine months was $11.5 million, compared to $14.6 million last year to date, a decrease of 21%.

"Our earnings are below what we would like them to be, but we anticipated this to be a year of investment," said Garry O. Ridge, president and CEO of WD-40 Company. "This business continues to change and we have been working hard to put in place the building blocks to ensure our long-term success, including the completion of the realignment of our sales force and the complete integration of our supply chain."

"We are now cross selling all of our brands at every level, we met our on-time, in-full delivery goals for the quarter, including our new brands, and our VML distribution center is servicing all of our grocery business with all of our brands," Ridge added.

Diluted earnings per share for the third quarter were $0.24, compared to $0.32 in the same quarter last year. Diluted earnings per share were $0.74 for the first nine months versus $0.94 for the comparable period last year.

Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased to $8.3 million from $8.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2000.

Advertising and sales promotion expenses were $6.9 million for the quarter, an increase from $4.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2000. Advertising and sales promotion expenses for the first nine months were $15.5 million compared to $11.4 million last year.

"Despite the impact that high fuel prices have had on our shipping costs, we have reduced non-marketing related overhead by 5% during the quarter," Ridge said. "The increases in marketing expenses are strategic decisions we have made to best support our long-term goals."

Amortization expenses were $1.1 million in the quarter, compared to $597,000 in fiscal 2000. The increased expense is primarily due to the amortization of goodwill created from the Global Household Brands acquisition.

The Board of Directors of WD-40 Company declared a regular quarterly dividend on June 26, 2001 of $0.27 per share, payable on July 30, 2001 to shareholders of record on July 12, 2001.

Total sales for the third quarter were 76% from the Americas, 19% from Europe and 5% from Asia/Pacific.

In the Americas, sales for the quarter were up 4% from last year. The recently acquired household products X-14(R), Carpet Fresh(R) and 2000 Flushes(R) added $5.9 million to the quarter from one month of sales.

"We are pleased with the sales of our new brands in their first month in our fortress," said Ridge. "The sales figures are right in line with the run rate Global Household Brands had seen from the brands.

"We have met our human resource and operational milestones with our new brands and are well on our way to meeting our short-term goal of building a sales and marketing structure that provides the best opportunity to expand all of our brands and increase sales across the board," Ridge added. "We have already put the building blocks in place to ensure a smooth integration."

In Europe, third quarter sales were up 2.5% from the comparable period last year.

"We saw double digit growth in most of our direct markets in Europe during the quarter, with the exception of Germany, which is having a tough year," Ridge added. "However, the weakness of the British pound against the U.S. dollar has resulted in a $2.6 million dollar reduction in sales upon translation. That combined with the impact of other currency fluctuations has reduced year to date earnings by about three cents a share."

In the Asia/Pacific region, total sales were down 21.1% from the comparable period last year.

"We are having a good year in Australia. WD-40 sales are up and we've seen strong acceptance of our initiatives with Solvol hand cleaner. The rest of Asia has seen a decline," Ridge said. "The Asian markets seem a bit jittery following the Chinese New Year and many of our customers are worried about the impact the declining U.S. economy will have on them.

"We also continue to have challenges with counterfeit products in China," Ridge added.

Global sales of the lubricants WD-40(R) and 3-In-One(R) Oil were up 5.6% during the quarter. Lubricant sales were up 92% in Latin America, up 37% in Canada and up 5% in the U.S. during the quarter.

Sales of heavy duty hand cleaners Lava(R) and Solvol(R) were down 54% during the quarter due to a comparison to a non-recurring U.S. promotion conducted during the third quarter of last year.

"We are doing very well with Solvol in Australia and have seen a nearly 25% growth in that product," said Ridge. "We are also doing well with Lava in the U.K. and recently began advertising the product there."

"When we acquired Lava our plan was to increase distribution into areas that we sold WD-40," Ridge said. "We did that, but at the same time we lost some of our U.S. distribution in grocery.

"We are re-establishing Lava in grocery by including it in our household products business to reverse some of the declines we have seen," Ridge added.

WD-40 Company, with headquarters in San Diego, is a global consumer products company with brands that deliver above expectation performance at extremely good value to end users who buy in a variety of trade channels. WD-40 Company produces multi-purpose lubricants, WD-40(R) and 3-IN-ONE(R), the Lava(R) and Solvol(R) brands of heavy-duty hand cleaners, and household products X-14(R), 2000 Flushes(R) and Carpet Fresh(R). WD-40 Company markets its products in more than 160 countries worldwide, and recorded sales of $152.7 million in fiscal 2000.

Additional information about WD-40 Company may be obtained on the World Wide Web at www.wd40.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements concerning WD-40 Company's outlook for sales, earning, dividends and other financial results.

These statements are based on an assessment of a variety of factors, contingencies and uncertainties considered relevant by WD-40 Company. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, including sales of specific brands, impacts of the recent acquisition, effects of increased marketing expenditures and the economies of various regions and countries.

The company's expectations, beliefs and projections are expressed in good faith and are believed by the company to have a reasonable basis, including without limitation management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in the company's records and other data available from third parties, but there can be no assurance that the company's expectations, beliefs or projections will be achieved or accomplished. The risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in reports filed by WD-40 Company with the SEC, including Forms 8-K, 10-Q, and 10-K, and readers are urged to carefully review these and other documents.