* Increased 2009 earnings expectations      * Completes two strategic acquisitions      * Cash and short term investments increase to $205.4 million 

Net income for the second quarter of 2009 was $17.8 million, or $0.61 per diluted share. This compares with second quarter of 2008 net income of $22.2 million, or $0.76 per diluted share. The second quarter of 2009 included $4.1 million in restructuring costs, or $0.10 per diluted share, primarily related to planned workforce reductions as part of the Company's cost reduction initiatives. Net sales for the second quarter of 2009 decreased 21% to $155.3 million from $197.8 million in the comparable period a year ago. Gross profit for the second quarter of 2009 was $55.9 million, or 36.0% of sales, versus $64.0 million, or 32.4% of sales, in the comparable quarter of 2008.

"Our cost reduction initiatives are driving strong financial performance despite continued weakness in order entry," stated Sam Thomas, Chart's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "During the quarter we continued to implement aggressive cost containment actions to right-size our businesses, but we also continued to experience good project execution in our Energy and Chemicals ("E&C") business."

Two acquisitions completed during the second quarter of 2009 were Chengdu Golden Phoenix Liquid Nitrogen Container Co., Limited ("Golden Phoenix"), a manufacturer of liquid nitrogen aluminum storage containers used primarily for artificial insemination for animal breeding located in Chengdu, China, and Tri-Thermal, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based supplier of replacement parts for air cooled heat exchangers. Both of these acquisitions were all-cash transactions.

"Golden Phoenix, which built a new manufacturing facility in 2007, will allow us to expand our Biomedical geographical manufacturing footprint in China to support the growing Asian demand for aluminum storage products," stated Mr. Thomas. "The Tri-Thermal acquisition allows us to build our E&C aftermarket business and provide significant value-added service to our customers. While these transactions are relatively small, they are important to our strategy of adding niche businesses that can expand our product offerings and services to our customers globally."

As previously announced, the Company's Distribution and Storage ("D&S") business is building a new 40,000-sq. ft. industrial gas equipment repair center in Reno, Nevada, to better serve customers in the Western U.S. The facility is expected to begin receiving equipment for repair in September and to be fully operational by January 2010.

Backlog at June 30, 2009 was $224.6 million, down 27% from the March 31, 2009 level of $307.5 million. Orders for the second quarter of 2009 were $71.4 million compared with first quarter 2009 orders of $89.3 million.

"As expected, orders remained weak during the quarter, particularly in our D&S and E&C businesses," stated Mr. Thomas. "We remain cautious regarding second half 2009 order activity, but continue to see strong bid activity for large projects that we believe will lead to improved order intake by the end of 2009 or early 2010."

Selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expenses for the second quarter of 2009 decreased $2.8 million to $23.5 million, or 15.1% of sales as a result of lower employee related costs, travel and entertainment, and outside consulting expenses due to cost reduction initiatives. SG&A expenses were $26.3 million, or 13.3% of sales, for the same quarter a year ago. Excluding the recent acquisitions and expansion, workforce levels are now down 15% from the end of last year due to the aggressive cost reduction efforts thus far.

Income tax expense was $8.2 million for the second quarter of 2009 and represented an effective tax rate of 31.5% compared with $9.2 million for the prior year quarter, which represented an effective tax rate of 29.3%. The increase in the second quarter effective tax rate was primarily due to an increase in the mix of domestic earnings which are taxed at a higher rate.

Cash and short-term investments were $205.4 million at June 30, 2009, which is $28.2 million higher than balances at March 31, 2009.

SEGMENT HIGHLIGHTS

E&C segment sales declined 9% to $70.8 million for the second quarter of 2009 compared with $78.2 million for the same quarter in the prior year. E&C gross profit margin increased to 41.5% in the 2009 period compared with 32.1% in the 2008 quarter largely due to favorable project mix and better project execution, including the revision of cost estimates as we near completion on a number of projects. In addition, order cancellation fees were also billed in accordance with contract terms providing margin improvement. This was partially offset by a write-off related to a customer payment default. The net impact of these items improved E&C margins approximately 4% during the quarter. While orders remain soft, particularly in E&C's product lines, we continue to see strong bid activity from key projects in Australia and Asia.

D&S segment sales declined by 32% to $63.3 million for the second quarter of 2009, compared with $93.2 million for the same quarter in the prior year. The decrease in sales was largely due to lower prices and volume in our packaged gas product line as well as the impact of a stronger dollar against the euro and Czech koruna. D&S gross profit margin of 30.6% in the quarter was essentially unchanged compared with 30.8% a year ago. Order trends in D&S were also down, reflecting the current economic environment compared to the prior year quarter which represented one of the strongest quarters for order intake in recent history at D&S.

BioMedical segment sales declined by 20% to $21.2 million for the second quarter of 2009 compared with $26.4 million for the same quarter in the prior year. Lower volume led to declines in both biological storage and medical respiratory product sales. In addition, other product sales declined due to the impact of reduced production from the previously announced shutdown of the Denver, Colorado BioMedical facility. BioMedical gross profit margin declined to 34.0% in the quarter compared with 38.4% for the same period in 2008. This was primarily due to lower volume and costs associated with the planned workforce reductions and Denver facility shutdown.

OUTLOOK

Based on year to date results, current expectations and our cost reduction initiatives, the Company is increasing the range of its previously announced full year earnings per share guidance to $1.50 to $1.70 per share on approximately 29.0 million weighted average shares outstanding. Sales for 2009 are now expected to be in a range of $580 to $620 million. This revised guidance includes the impact from restructuring charges of $0.10 per share incurred during the second quarter and another $0.02 per share is anticipated over the balance of the year for remaining costs primarily related to the Denver facility shutdown. This compares with our previous guidance of a sales range of $600 to $640 million and diluted earnings per share range of $1.30 to $1.60 per share.

"With $205.4 million of cash on hand, our balance sheet remains strong with significant liquidity," continued Mr. Thomas.