MKS Announces First Quarter Results for Fiscal 2005

Waterloo, ON - September 9, 2004: MKS Inc. (MKS) (TSX: MKX) today announced its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 which ended on July 31, 2004. All amounts are reported in US dollars under United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

Total revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 was $8.8 million, a 10.2 percent or $0.8 million increase from $8.0 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2004 and a decrease of 3.5 percent or $0.3 million from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004. Net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 was $0.2 million, or $0.00 per share, an improvement of $0.3 million compared to a net loss of $(0.1) million or $(0.00) per share in the first quarter of fiscal 2004 and a decline of $0.2 million over the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004.

First quarter software configuration management (SCM) revenues were $6.7 million, representing 16.8 percent growth over SCM revenues of $5.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2004 and a 1.2 percent decline over SCM revenues of $6.8 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004. The Company’s cash position declined from $6.4 million to $4.5 million during the quarter, mainly due to increased accounts receivable and the timing of payments to suppliers.

“We were pleased to start the new fiscal year with a profit driven by strong license revenue,” said Philip Deck, MKS chairman and CEO. “We showed a continued high level of revenue contribution from Global 1000 accounts where our progress is being bolstered by an increasing focus on IT governance and regulatory compliance.”

“We enjoyed 26 percent SCM license growth over last year with a record number of deals over $50,000, adding up to our second best quarterly performance ever for SCM revenue,” said Michael Harris, MKS chief operating officer. “Our rapidly maturing North American SCM division had a particularly solid showing, with strong license revenue, record services deliveries and higher strategic account contribution.”

The Company believes that the anticipated growth in SCM revenue should result in positive operating income for the Company as a whole for fiscal 2005.

Significant Customer Agreements
During the first quarter of fiscal 2005 MKS signed significant agreements with enterprise customers including Abbott Laboratories, Alaska Communications Systems, Amadeus Global Travel Distribution, Boeing, Caesars Entertainment, Deutsche Telekom, USERS Incorporated, Hella KGaA, RBC Financial Group, NCR Financial Solutions Group, and W&W Informatik GmbH.

Conference Call Details
The Company will hold a conference call at 5:00 p.m. EDT after close of markets today to discuss its first quarter performance and results. Interested parties may access the call by dialing 1-888-280-8771 or 416-695-9702. An operator-assisted playback of the call will be available for one (1) week from September 9, 2004 to September 16, 2004 and may be accessed by dialing 1-888-509-0082 or 416-695-5275.

For summarized financial information, please click here.

About MKS
MKS Inc. ("MKS") (TSX: MKX) provides award-winning enterprise software configuration management (SCM) and interoperability software solutions enabling Global 1000 companies to better manage and control the complete process of software development. The company's family of SCM products offers advanced technology with robust workflow, version control, and impact analysis capabilities. Under its widely known MKS Toolkit® brand, MKS provides UNIX-Windows co-existence, and system administration that significantly cut development and administrative costs and reduce time to market while enabling enhanced performance. Founded in 1984 with over 10,000 customers worldwide, MKS has built its brand on the foundation of advanced technology, superior quality and extraordinary customer service. More information about MKS can be found at http://www.mks.com, or by calling 1-800-265-2797 (US & Canada), +49-711-351775-0 (Germany), and +44-1483-733900 (United Kingdom).

Copyright © 2004 MKS Inc. MKS and design, and MKS Toolkit are registered trademarks of MKS Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in this release are the property of their respective owners.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. When used in this document, the words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the Company’s current views with respect to future events and are subject to such risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from the statements made including those factors detailed from time to time in filings made by the Company with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated or expected. The Company does not intend and does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Investor Contact:
Douglas Sawatzky, CFO
519-883-3252
E-mail dsawatzky@mks.com