15x16%=21%
Fifteen consecutive record earnings years x Sixteen percent average EPS growth = Twenty-one percent average annual return to shareholders
2004 Annual Report
About the Company Donaldson Company, Inc., is a leading worldwide manufacturer of filtration systems and replacement parts. The
company’s product mix includes air and liquid filters and exhaust and emission control products for mobile equipment; in-plant air cleaning
systems; compressed air and gas purification systems; air intake systems for industrial gas turbines; and specialized filters for such diverse
applications as computer disk drives, semiconductor processing and fuel cell contamination control. Products are manufactured at over
30 Donaldson plants around the world and through three joint ventures.
Our financial objective is to create shareholder value through superior share price appreciation built on consistent growth in earnings
per share coupled with above-average return on investment. Growth will come from aggressively pursuing new opportunities in our existing
and related markets. Consistent earnings growth will be facilitated by our diversified portfolio of related filtration businesses around the world.
Mission Statement To provide superior return for our shareholders, through consistent, long-term earnings growth built on global
leadership in filtration solutions, thereby creating security and opportunity for our employees.
5x16%=21%
s x Sixteen percent average EPS growth = Twenty-one percent average annual return to shareholders
0403020100999897969594939291901001811731952122452462963284504925707297396056988132102753424575054707867229777651,2411,3632,0012,203100Long-Term PerformanceYear ended July 31 (cumulative total return)=DCI = S&P 40089(cid:13)0403020100999897969594939291901215 Consecutive Years of Record EPS Growth(annual EPS % change)35151515151514111910101016240
William G. Van Dyke, Chairman of the Board
Dear Shareholders:
When Louis XIV died, the transition to the new monarch
was announced with, ”The King is dead. Long live the
King!” In the transition from one regime to the next, it was
the institution that mattered; the individual was just an
interesting detail.
Donaldson is engaged in its own leadership transition, just the fifth
I had the great luxury of being able to pick my key team in 1994 when my
one in its almost 90-year history. Drawing a parallel to Louis XIV is surely
run started. I have been blessed with an extraordinarily committed, capa-
a little thin, but the point is the same. Our success isn’t the product of
ble and selfless foursome in Bill Cook, Jim Giertz, Nick Priadka and Lowell
whoever happens to be CEO at any moment. Donaldson is built on a sim-
Schwab, the four Senior Vice Presidents who have provided our key
ple, clear strategy and the commitment of a lot of people, all around the
leadership. I know, and they’ll be the first to agree, that it was my lucky
world, to the belief that we can build an enduring, prosperous institution
day when I picked them. Worked out pretty well for the company, too.
that will offer security and opportunity to its people, by staying single-
mindedly focused on delivering value for our shareholders.
In our matrix management structure, characterized as it is by often-mad-
dening interdependence among the key players, these four found ways
We just posted our 15th consecutive earnings record. Fifteen consecutive
to merge their individual responsibilities and needs with those of the
records, averaging 16 percent per year, providing our shareholders with
company. They came to play, every day, and they played hard. Individually
a compound annual return of 21 percent. A long term return of 21 percent
they’re pretty darned good; together, they have been remarkable.
for holding stock in a company that makes filters for diesel engines, var-
ious manufacturing processes and a number of other, mostly mundane
applications? Unlikely.
Bill Cook took over as CEO last August first. Bill has been with Donaldson
for 24 years, the last 13 reporting directly to me. He has proven that he
has the vision, experience and leadership to continue the execution of
My predecessor, Bill Hodder, began the evolution of the modern-day
our strategy and to deliver on the promise of the franchise that we’ve
Donaldson more than 20 years ago by articulating a new strategy, a new
built. The same exceptional board of outside directors, which has guided
vision of what Donaldson could be, then having the grit to persist with
this company with great wisdom and discipline and been invaluable in
that vision for the five or six years that it took to gain traction. That per-
making me a more capable CEO, now stands behind Bill Cook.
sistence and determination provided the seed capital that funded the
company’s metamorphosis from a mostly diesel engine-focused, mostly
North American, cyclical performer into a broad portfolio of filter busi-
nesses, with more than half its revenue, profits, manufacturing
resources and employees outside the U.S. and an earnings growth
record matched by very few.
At its heart, it was a simple idea: if we take care of the shareholders, the
company and its people will prosper. We explicitly recognize the imper-
I will continue as Chairman of the Board until August 2005 to assist
in the transition to the new executive team. After that I will leave the
company and the board. My thanks to all of Donaldson’s employees, our
board and our shareholders – this has been a marvelous experience.
I am confident that Donaldson, and your investment, is in strong hands.
sonality of the challenge. We accept that investors don’t care about how
hard we try or about the obstacles that impede success. Our task has
Bill Van Dyke
been, and is, to deliver consistent earnings growth – to decide on how
to configure the company and on which priorities to embrace – and then
to execute. No excuses. No time-outs. Then the only hard part is to find
the right people, willing to sign up to play in this game that offers no
respite and little time for celebration of success.
Industrial Products
Segment 2004 Sales $603 Million
Gas Turbine Systems
Industrial Filtration
Solutions
Special Applications
Industrial Filtration Solutions
Gas Turbine Systems
Special Applications
The Industrial Filtration Solutions
group (IFS) provides a broad range
of filtration products to industrial
end-use customers under the master
brand of Donaldson and three
specialized product brands: Torit,
Ultrafilter and Torit/DCE. Also, a full
line of replacement filters and parts
is offered.
IFS products are applied in a wide
variety of industrial segments
including pharmaceutical, bulk food
handling, metalworking, mining,
cement, plastics, glass and wood.
Industrial Air Filtration
Industrial Air Filtration manufactures
collectors and replacement filters
that capture a broad spectrum of
dust, mist or fume particles that create
maintenance and air quality problems
in manufacturing environments.
IFS offers complete solutions to:
(1) control and capture airborne
dust, fumes and mist;
(2) provide clean, dry and oil-free
compressed air and gas; and
(3) provide clean bulk oil, fuel,
hydraulic fluid and other
process liquids for industrial
applications.
Compressed Air and
Gas Purification
Air intake filters, oil filters and
air/oil separators keep compressor
room equipment running efficiently.
Air dryers and point-of-use com-
pressed air filters deliver clean, dry
compressed air and gas throughout
manufacturing facilities.
Industrial Liquid Filtration
Hydraulic filters protect manufac-
turing equipment by removing
particulate contaminants that
cause wear and damage to engines,
motors and moving parts. Process
liquid filters purify a variety of
industrial process liquids.
Donaldson provides complete
systems to deliver clean air to gas-
fired turbines. Products include self-
cleaning filter units, static air filter
units, inlet ducting and silencing,
evaporative coolers, chiller coils,
inlet heating and anti-icing systems.
Also, a full line of replacement filters
and parts is offered.
Essentially all combustion gas
turbines require inlet air filtration
and noise attenuation systems. These
turbines provide base electricity,
peaking capacity and remote power
generation for special applications
such as pipelines and off-shore oil
drilling platforms.
Donaldson provides a wide range
of high efficiency media, filters
and filtration systems for various
commercial and industrial applications.
Products for the disk drive market
include particulate filters, desiccant
filters and chemical adsorbing filters.
Customers include major disk drive
manufacturers such as IBM, Seagate
and Western Digital.
Products for special market applica-
tions include air filter systems for
semiconductor processing facilities,
contamination control devices for
fuel cells, as well as other filters for
process-critical applications.
$370 Million
$118 Million
$115
IFS products and services are
provided through multiple channels.
Dedicated Donaldson field sales rep-
resentatives and service technicians
sell directly to end-users. A network
of distributors, dealers, resellers,
installers and engineering firms are
utilized to help expand IFS coverage
in specific markets and geogra-
phies. Strong OEM relationships
also help incorporate IFS products
into total system configurations.
Products are primarily sold to gas
turbine OEMs (e.g., General Electric,
Solar and Siemens Westinghouse).
Replacement parts are sold directly
to end-users.
Disk drive filters are sold to disk drive
manufacturers by a direct sales force
supported by product development and
application engineers.
Special market products are sold
to OEMs and directly to end-users.
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Engine Products
Segment 2004 Sales $812 Million
Aftermarket
Off-Road Equipment
Trucks
Off-Road Equipment
Trucks
Aftermarket
Products sold to agricultural, con-
struction, mining, aerospace and
defense equipment manufacturers.
Products sold to manufacturers
of light-, medium- and heavy-duty
trucks.
Broad line of replacement
filters and hard parts for all
of the equipment applications
noted at left.
Caterpillar, John Deere, Komatsu,
CNH, Volvo Construction Equipment,
General Dynamics and Stewart
& Stevenson
Freightliner, PACCAR, Volvo,
Scania, International, Mitsubishi,
Ford and General Motors
Original equipment dealers (such
as Freightliner dealers or PACCAR
dealers), independent distributors
and private label accounts.
$245 Million
$156 Million
$411 Million
Engine Intake Air
Filtration Systems
Exhaust Systems
Hydraulic Filtration
Systems
Lube, Fuel and Coolant
Filtration Systems
Cabin Air Filters
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Donaldson sells expanded PTFE
membrane and laminates. Primary
applications for this membrane are
industrial dust collection, product
recovery applications, air pollution
control and specialty fabrics.
5 Million
Membrane and laminates are
sold to various filter and garment
manufacturers.
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William M. Cook, President and Chief Executive Officer
Dear Shareholders,
Our fiscal 2004 was a year of significant challenges. These
included sharply higher steel costs, multiple plant expan-
sions and start-ups, and a significant unexpected surge in
our customer demand. All of these tested the strength of our
business model. The good news is that we did it!
We were able to overcome all of the hurdles and deliver our 15th consec-
A Bright Outlook for Fiscal 2005
utive record year of earnings growth. From our perspective this was no
We believe the wind is at our back as we enter fiscal 2005. We have near-
small feat, and, as a result, we are particularly proud of Year 15.
record order backlogs: our total and 90-day backlogs are up 20 percent
The improvement in our general business conditions was very good
news after the weak economic environment of the last few years. In
the past year, we invested in our businesses to capture the emerging
revenue opportunities by adding sales and engineering resources, and
and 14 percent, respectively, compared to this time a year ago. We view
this as evidence that the strength underlying this past year’s sales growth
has not dissipated. This strength is broad based, as it extends across the
majority of our business units.
in most of our plants we added people and shifts to meet the rapid order
Our engine business set another revenue record this past year, with
growth. This included our operations in Japan, where we were able to
sales of $832 million, up almost 22 percent; and we expect another
fulfill a significant spike in demand as we consolidated operations from
strong year in fiscal 2005. We anticipate the heavy truck build rate at
two plants into one. Finally, the global steel crisis – and the significant
our North American customers will continue growing in 2005, driven by
cost increases that resulted – hit us hard about mid year, resulting in the
the need for trucking fleets to both replace old trucks and add capacity.
need to adjust the prices to our customers and to redouble our cost
Obviously, this will benefit our truck filter business. We’re also seeing
reduction efforts.
In spite of these challenges, fiscal 2004 earnings per share (EPS) grew
12 percent to $1.18 per share, our 15th consecutive record EPS year.
Revenue, also a new record, was $1.4 billion, up 16 percent.
continued growth in our off-road business, the result of worldwide
strength in all three of the off-road end markets we serve – construction,
agriculture and mining equipment production. Meanwhile, our replace-
ment filter business is benefiting from the uptrend in both truck and
off-road equipment utilization.
Financial Highlights
Donaldson Company, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Year ended July 31
Net sales
Net earnings
Return on sales
Return on average shareholders’ equity
Long-term capitalization ratio
Diluted earnings per share
Dividends paid per share
Shareholders’ equity per share
Diluted shares outstanding
Employees at year-end
2004
2003
% change
$1,414,980
$1,218,252
106,317
7.5%
21.3%
11.4%
95,314
7.8%
23.0%
19.0%
$ 1.18
$ 1.05
$ 0.205
$ 0.175
$ 6.38
$ 5.16
90,430
10,289
90,470
9,195
16.1%
11.5%
(0.3) pts.
(1.7) pts.
(7.6) pts.
12.4%
17.1%
23.6%
0.0%
11.9%
On the industrial side of our company, our disk drive filter business posted
up with demand for replacement filters. Finally, we’ll be breaking ground
a record revenue year in 2004. Market forecasts show continued growth
again in China this year for what will be our fifth Chinese plant. This
for disk drives and, therefore, our filters. To meet the growing demand
facility will make air filtration products for diesel engines to serve China
and to be closer to our customers, we will complete construction of a
and the surrounding markets in Asia. We’ve also significantly expanded
new plant in Thailand during the coming year.
production in many of our 13 U.S. plants and have added about 250 pro-
Overall, our industrial air, compressed air and hydraulic filtration busi-
nesses continue to benefit from the improvements in both the North
American and Asian markets and the recovery now evident in Europe.
For example, as we began our new fiscal year, our 90-day order backlog
duction jobs in the U.S. during the past 12 months. With our increased
production volumes, we are now achieving meaningful operating lever-
age in our manufacturing plants, helping to offset the ongoing impact
of the steel and other commodity cost increases.
in industrial air filtration is up more than 30 percent from a year ago.
As I write this letter, I am close to completing my 24th year with Donaldson,
The outlook for our gas turbine filter business also improved. At the
beginning of fiscal 2004, we expected our turbine filter business to be
down 30 to 35 percent. Instead, improving conditions in the international
market for gas turbines, including some unanticipated business in Iraq,
caused us to increase our forecast twice. In the fourth quarter, we saw
our first positive year-over-year sales comparison in two years. While
we expect this business to be stable in 2005, we are encouraged that
the North American market contraction appears to be over, and we’ve
successfully weathered this downturn.
Our worldwide growth has driven the need for increased production
capacity in a number of our plants. In addition to our new disk drive filter
plant in Thailand, we’re expanding our Italian facility for oil and hydraulic
but only my second month as CEO. I am struck with the realization that I
am assuming my new responsibilities at a wonderful time, given the wide-
spread strengths and strong prospects for this company. Our well-tuned
and time-tested business model driven by 10,000 committed employees
really works…Year 15 is our best evidence of the success of this strat-
egy. We remain committed to using our diversified portfolio of filtration
businesses to deliver consistent, long-term earnings growth with above
average returns to you, our shareholders. Our target for fiscal 2005 is our
16th consecutive record earnings year, with at least a 10 percent increase
over our 2004 record.
filters. We’re adding another production line to our new plant in the Czech
Sincerely,
Republic for air filters, and we’re expanding our Australian facility to keep
Bill Cook
4234584825335947047598339409441,0921,1371,1261,218$1,415Net Sales(millions of dollars)Sales have grown 9 percent per year, (cid:3)on average, over the last 15 years.0403020100999897969594939291900403020100999897969594939291900.190.210.230.260.300.370.420.500.570.660.760.830.951.05$1.18Earnings Per Share(dollars)Earnings per share were up 12.4 percent in 2004, the 15th consecutive record year of earnings growth.0403020100999897969594939291900.0300.0350.0450.0500.0600.0700.0750.0850.0950.1150.1350.1480.1550.175$0.205Dividends Per Share(dollars)Dividends per share increased 17 percent in 2004. The company distributes between 20 and 25 percent of the prior three years‘ average net income through regular quarterly dividends. Fifteen-Year Comparison of Results
Donaldson Company, Inc. and Subsidiaries
(Millions of dollars, except per share amounts)
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
Operating Results
Net sales
$1,415.0
$1,218.3
$1,126.0
$1,137.0
$1,092.3
$ 944.1
$ 940.4
$ 833.3
$ 758.6
$ 704.0
$ 593.5
$ 533.3
$ 482.1
$ 457.7
$ 422.9
Gross margin
$ 450.4
$ 391.2
$ 349.5
$ 341.7
$ 327.5
$ 275.7
$ 263.3
$ 250.3
$ 222.9
$ 198.0
$ 166.6
$ 152.2
$ 133.6
$ 129.9
$ 121.5
Gross margin percentage
31.8%
32.1%
31.0%
30.1%
30.0%
29.2%
28.0%
30.0%
29.4%
28.1%
28.1%
28.5%
27.7%
28.4%
28.7%
Operating income
$ 141.6
$ 131.8
$ 123.8
$ 112.1
$ 105.6
$
88.4
$
86.8
$
82.7
$
75.6
$
65.5
$
52.1
$
45.2
$
41.2
$
41.3
$
44.4
Operating income
percentage
10.0%
10.8%
11.0%
9.9%
9.7%
9.4%
9.2%
9.9%
10.0%
9.3%
8.8%
8.5%
8.6%
9.0%
10.5%
Interest expense
$
5.0
$
5.9
$
6.5
$
11.6
$
9.9
Earnings before
income taxes
$ 141.8
$ 130.6
$ 119.0
$ 104.9
$ 100.3
Income taxes
$
35.5
$
35.3
$
32.1
$
29.4
$
30.1
$
$
$
7.0
89.2
26.8
$
$
$
4.7
86.4
29.4
$
$
$
2.4
$ 2.9
$ 3.1
$ 3.4
$ 2.7
$ 2.7
$ 3.5
$ 3.7
79.1
28.5
$
$
71.1
27.7
$
$
63.2
24.6
$
$
50.2
18.2
$
$
44.7
16.5
$
$
41.7
16.0
$
$
39.4
15.3
$
$
34.9
13.8
Effective income tax rate
25.0%
27.0%
27.0%
28.0%
30.0%
30.0%
34.0%
36.0%
38.9%
39.0%
36.3%
36.9%
38.2%
38.9%
39.7%
Net earnings
$ 106.3
$
95.3
$
86.9
$
75.5
$
70.2
$
62.4
$
57.1
$
50.6
$
43.4
$
38.5
$
31.9(1)
$
28.2
$
25.8
$
24.0
$
21.0
Return on sales
7.5%
7.8%
7.7%
6.6%
6.4%
6.6%
6.1%
6.1%
5.7%
5.5%
5.4%
5.3%
5.3%
5.3%
5.0%
Return on average
shareholders' equity
21.3%
23.0%
24.8%
25.2%
25.9%
24.1%
22.8%
21.4%
19.3%
18.8%
17.6%
16.9%
17.2%
18.0%
17.8%
Return on investment
18.1%
18.3%
19.2%
19.1%
19.4%
19.0%
20.5%
20.8%
18.5%
17.6%
16.0%
15.0%
14.8%
14.9%
14.2%
Financial Position
Total assets
$1,001.6
$ 882.0
$ 850.1
$ 706.8
$ 677.5
$ 542.2
$ 513.0
$ 467.5
$ 402.9
$ 381.0
$ 337.4
$ 300.2
$ 286.3
$ 253.2
$ 245.9
Current assets
$ 557.4
$ 454.7
$ 456.5
$ 407.2
$ 383.3
$ 326.4
$ 300.8
$ 283.4
$ 250.8
$ 247.9
$ 220.3
$ 196.0
$ 187.4
$ 169.4
$ 168.5
Current liabilities
$ 275.5
$ 214.1
$ 273.3
$ 217.3
$ 243.6
$ 142.1
$ 165.1
$ 177.3
$ 138.6
$ 123.7
$ 115.8
$
93.7
Working capital
$ 281.9
$ 240.6
$ 183.2
$ 189.9
$ 139.8
$ 184.3
$ 135.7
$ 106.0
$ 112.2
$ 124.2
$ 104.6
$ 102.3
Current ratio
Current debt
Long-term debt
2.0
2.1
1.7
$
$
54.1
$
14.8
$
60.9
70.9
$ 105.2
$ 104.6
1.9
59.4
99.3
$
$
1.6
85.3
92.6
$
$
2.3
20.7
86.7
$
$
Total debt
$ 124.9
$ 120.0
$ 165.4
$ 158.7
$ 178.0
$ 107.4
1.8
45.9
51.6
97.4
$
$
$
1.6
42.7
4.2
46.9
$
$
$
$
$
$
1.8
13.1
10.0
23.2
$
$
$
2.0
20.8
10.2
31.0
1.9
2.1
$
$
$
17.0
$ 7.6
16.0
33.0
$
$
18.9
26.5
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
90.0
97.4
2.1
77.5
91.9
2.2
11.4
$ 6.4
23.5
34.9
$
$
25.7
32.1
$
$
$
$
$
79.9
88.6
2.1
11.4
28.3
39.7
Shareholders’ equity
$ 549.3
$ 447.4
$ 382.6
$ 319.1
$ 280.2
$ 262.8
$ 255.7
$ 243.9
$ 228.9
$ 221.2
$ 189.7
$ 174.0
$ 160.3
$ 138.9
$ 128.8
Long-term capitalization ratio
11.4%
19.0%
21.5%
23.7%
24.9%
24.8%
16.8%
1.7%
4.2%
4.4%
7.8%
9.8%
12.8%
15.6%
18.0%
Property, plant and
equipment, net
Net expenditures on property,
plant and equipment
Depreciation and
amortization
Shareholder Information
Net earnings per share –
assuming dilution
$ 261.5
$ 255.4
$ 240.9
$ 207.7
$ 204.5
$ 182.2
$ 178.9
$ 154.6
$ 124.9
$ 110.6
$
$
43.0
41.6
$
$
33.3
37.6
$
$
40.5
31.8
$
$
38.9
38.6
$
$
36.4
$
29.5
$
54.7
$
47.3
34.3
$
27.7
$
25.3
$
21.5
$
$
39.3
21.7
$
$
25.3
20.5
$
$
$
99.6
24.6
16.4
$
$
$
90.5
15.0
14.8
$
$
$
84.9
15.5
14.0
$
$
$
72.9
16.2
12.2
$
$
$
68.3
16.1
10.9
$
1.18
$
1.05
$
0.95
$
0.83
$
0.76
$
0.66
$ 0.57
$
0.50
$
0.42
$
0.37
$
0.30(1)
$
0.26
$
0.23
$
0.21
$
0.19
Dividends paid per share
$ 0.205
$ 0.175
$ 0.155
$ 0.148
$ 0.135
$ 0.115
$ 0.095
$ 0.085
$ 0.075
$ 0.070
$ 0.060
$ 0.050
$ 0.045
$ 0.035
$ 0.030
Shareholders’ equity
per share
$
6.38
$
5.16
$
4.36
$
3.59
$
3.14
$
2.84
$
2.64
$
2.47
$
2.26
$
2.11
$
1.79
$
1.59
$
1.45
$
1.25
$
1.12
Shares outstanding (000s)
86,112
86,679
87,769
88,766
89,315
92,395
96,763
98,904
101,300
104,740
106,040
109,128
110,276
110,956
115,456
Common stock price range,
per share
High
Low
$ 30.75
$ 23.50
24.59
14.96
22.50
13.47
16.53
12.41
12.94
13.59
10.19
9.57
9.57
7.22
9.28
6.31
7.00
5.97
7.00
5.47
6.53
4.56
5.03
3.50
3.97
2.59
3.28
2.03
2.91
1.41
1) Excludes the cumulative effect of an accounting change of $2,206, or $.04 per share in 1994
Corporate Officers
William G. Van Dyke, 59
Chairman
32 years service
William M. Cook, 51
President and
Chief Executive Officer
24 years service
James R. Giertz, 47
Senior Vice President,
Commercial and Industrial
11 years service
Nickolas Priadka, 58
Senior Vice President,
International
35 years service
Board of Directors
F. Guillaume Bastiaens, 61
Vice Chairman,
Cargill, Inc., Minneapolis
(Agribusiness)
Director since 1995 (1) (3)
William M. Cook, 51
President and
Chief Executive Officer,
Donaldson Company, Inc.
Director since 2004
Lowell F. Schwab, 56
Senior Vice President,
Engine Systems and Parts
25 years service
Dale M. Couch, 61
Vice President and
General Manager,
Asia Pacific
7 years service
Norman C. Linnell, 45
Vice President,
General Counsel
and Secretary
9 years service
John F. Grundhofer, 65
Chairman Emeritus
U.S. Bancorp, Minneapolis
(Financial Services)
Director since 1997 (1) (3*)
Kendrick B. Melrose, 64
Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer,
The Toro Company, Minneapolis
(Manufacturing)
Director since 1991 (1) (2)
Janet M. Dolan, 54
President and
Chief Executive Officer,
Tennant Company, Minneapolis
(Manufacturing)
Director since 1996 (2) (3)
Paul David Miller, 62
Chairman,
Alliant Techsystems Inc.,
Minneapolis (Defense)
Director since 2001 (2) (3)
Jack W. Eugster, 59
Non-Executive Chairman,
ShopKo Stores, Inc.,
Green Bay, WI
(Specialty Discount Retailer)
Director since 1993 (1) (2*)
Jeffrey Noddle, 58
Chairman, President and
Chief Executive Officer,
SUPERVALU INC., Minneapolis
(Food Retailer and Distributor)
Director since 2000 (1*) (2)
Charles J. McMurray, 50
Vice President,
Human Resources
24 years service
Geert Henk Touw, 58
Vice President and
General Manager,
Europe/Africa/Middle East
18 years service
William I. Vann, 58
Vice President,
Operations
37 years service
Thomas R. VerHage, 51
Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
1 year service
William G. Van Dyke, 59
Chairman,
Donaldson Company, Inc.
Director since 1994
John P. Wiehoff, 43
Chief Executive Officer
and President
C. H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.,
Minneapolis
(Transportation and Logistics)
Director since 2003 (2) (3)
(1) Human Resources Committee
(2) Audit Committee
(3) Corporate Governance Committee
(*) Committee Chairperson
Safe Harbor Statement
The Company desires to take advantage of the “Safe Harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995 and is making this cautionary statement in connection with such safe harbor legislation. Some of
the information provided in this annual report constitutes forward-looking statements which reflect the Company’s
current views with respect to future events and financial performance, but involve uncertainties that could signifi-
cantly impact results. All forecasts and projections are “forward-looking” statements and are based on management’s
current expectations of the Company’s near-term results. There can be no assurance that actual results will not
differ materially from its expectations. For a more detailed explanation of the safe harbor statement and the risks,
see Exhibit 99, which is part of the Company’s Form 10-K filed with the SEC.
Corporate and Shareholder Information
NYSE Listing
The common shares of
Donaldson Company, Inc. are
traded on the New York Stock
Exchange, under the symbol DCI.
Shareholder Information
For any concerns relating to
your current or prospective
shareholdings, please contact
Shareowner Services at
(800) 468-9716 or (651) 450-4064.
Dividend Reinvestment Plan
As of September 28, 2004, 1,142
of Donaldson Company’s approx-
imately 1,902 shareholders of
record were participating in
the Dividend Reinvestment Plan.
Under the plan, shareholders
can invest Donaldson Company
dividends in additional shares
of company stock. They may also
make periodic voluntary cash
investments for the purchase of
company stock.
Both alternatives are provided
without service charges or broker-
age commissions. Shareholders
may obtain a brochure giving
further details by writing Wells
Fargo Bank, N.A., Shareowner
Services, P.O. Box 64854, St. Paul,
MN 55164-0854.
Annual Meeting
The annual meeting of share-
holders will be held at 9 a.m.
on Friday, November 19, 2004,
at Donaldson Company, Inc.,
1400 West 94th Street,
Bloomington, Minnesota.
Shareholders are welcome
to attend.
Investor Relations
You can access investor
relations information, including
our SEC filings, on our website
at www.donaldson.com.
For investor inquiries, contact
Rich Sheffer, Director of Investor
Relations at (952) 887-3753 or
rsheffer@mail.donaldson.com.
Auditors
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Public and Investor
Relations Counsel
The Carideo Group, Inc.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Transfer Agent and Registrar
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
South St. Paul, Minnesota
Mailing Address:
Donaldson Company, Inc.
P.O. Box 1299
Minneapolis, Minnesota
55440 U.S.A
(952) 887-3131
www.donaldson.com
TM