Keithley Financial News Release

Keithley Instruments Reports Sequential Sales and Order Increases for Fiscal 2002 Second Quarter

Cleveland, Ohio -- April 17, 2002 -- Keithley Instruments, Inc. (NYSE:KEI), a leader in solutions for emerging measurement needs, today announced results for its fiscal 2002 second quarter that ended March 31, 2002.

Net sales of $22.0 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2002 increased 8 percent from the first quarter; the first sequential increase since December 2000. Compared to the prior year's second quarter, net sales decreased 49 percent from $43.2 million last year. The company reported a net loss for the second quarter of fiscal 2002 of $1.3 million, or $0.08 per share, versus net income of $5.1 million, or $0.31 per share, in last year's second quarter.

Orders of $22.7 million for the second quarter increased 13 percent from the first quarter resulting from higher orders from the company's semiconductor and telecommunications industry customers. Orders from the optoelectronics industry were flat, while research and education customer orders decreased from a strong first quarter. When compared to the prior year's second quarter, orders decreased 37 percent from $36.2 million last year. Geographically, orders for the quarter were down 46 percent in the United States, 38 percent in Europe, and down only 2 percent in the Pacific Basin compared to the same period a year ago. For the first half of fiscal 2002, semiconductor orders comprised approximately 20 percent of the total, telecommunications orders accounted for about 15 percent, optoelectronics orders made up 5 percent, while research and education comprised approximately 25 percent of total orders. Order backlog increased slightly during the quarter to $12.2 million at March 31, 2002.

"We were pleased to see business sequentially improve for the first time in over a year," stated Joseph P. Keithley, the company's Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer. "We are seeing more activity from our semiconductor customers than six months ago. Although conditions remain difficult in most segments of the electronics industry we serve, we have continued our investments in new product development and in strengthening our worldwide sales and support organization. During the quarter, we introduced several new products for our targeted semiconductor, telecommunications, and optoelectronics customers, including a DMM/Switch System with RF switch capability to 3.5GHz, the Model 2502 Fiber Alignment Photodiode Meter, and fully integrated factory configurations for hybrid DC/RF/Optical switching for our System 40 product line. By adding RF and optical capabilities to our existing DC expertise, we are positioned to take market share as we move through this cycle."

"Our new sales and support office in Japan officially opened for business on April 1. This is an essential strategic move toward increasing our presence in this important region. Japan has a very large number of electronics companies that have a great deal of influence on others in the rest of Asia," added Keithley.

For the six months ending March 31, 2002, net sales were $42.5 million, down 52 percent from $87.7 million last year. The net loss for the first half of fiscal 2002 was $2.9 million, or $0.19 per share. This compared with net income of $12.0 million, or $0.72 per share, for the first half of fiscal 2001. The company's financial position remains strong with cash and short-term investments totaling $45 million, with debt of $3 million at March 31, 2002.

"We are encouraged by the good news we are hearing with regard to the semiconductor industry, consumer electronics, and flat panel displays. While we expect improvements in some segments of the electronics industry over the next year, we expect other segments to not improve in the near-term. Our sales are order dependent and based on what we are seeing now, we are estimating sales for the June quarter to range between $21 and $25 million, with a pretax loss as a percentage of net sales in the single-digit to low-teens range," Keithley said.

During the first half of fiscal 2002, the company did not repurchase shares under its open market stock buyback program.

Statements made in the "Business Outlook" section of this release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the expected results stated or implied in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors that include but are not limited to: the impact of the ongoing slowdown in the overall economy, business conditions in the semiconductor, telecommunications, optoelectronics, and other industries that the company serves and the severity and duration of the current downturn of these as well as the overall broadband industry, the company's actual expenses to operate direct sales operations in Japan, the company's ability to develop an effective sales and support organization in Japan, the company's ability to develop new products and gain market acceptance of those products to remain competitive and gain market share, the company's ability to hire and retain qualified employees, the company's ability to control costs, and foreign currency fluctuations which could affect worldwide operations. In light of these uncertainties, the inclusion of forward-looking information should not be regarded as a representation by the company that its plans or objectives will be achieved. Further, the company is not obligating itself to revise forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

On Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, interested parties may listen to the Keithley Instruments quarterly conference call live on the Web by registering on the investor relations portion of the company's web site at www.keithley.com. Interested parties may also listen to a replay of the quarterly conference call by visiting the web site. The replay will be available for approximately 30 days.

KEITHLEY INSTRUMENTS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME
(In Thousands of Dollars Except for Per Share Data)
(Unaudited)

	for the Three Months Ended March 31,				for the Six Months Ended March 31,
	2002		2001		2002		2001
NET SALES	$22,046	100.0%	$43,168	100.0%	$42,470	100.0%	$87,676	100.0%
Cost of goods sold	9,818	44.5	16,826	39.0	18,999	44.7	33,360	38.0
Selling, general, and administrative expenses	11,129	50.5	14,630	33.9	21,519	50.7	28,064	32.0
Product development expenses	3,433	15.6	4,082	9.5	7,009	16.5	7,965	9.1
Net financing income	(246)	(1.1)	(334)	(0.8)	(512)	(1.2)	(631)	(0.7)
Income (loss) before income taxes	(2,088)	(9.5)	7,964	18.4	(4,545)	(10.7)	18,918	21.6
Income taxes (benefit)	(779)	(3.6)	2,852	6.6	(1,602)	(3.8)	6,905	7.9
NET INCOME (LOSS)	$ (1,309)	(5.9)%	$ 5,112	11.8%	$ (2,943)	(6.9)%	$ 12,013	13.7%
Basic earnings (loss) per share	$ (0.08)		$ 0.32		$ (0.19)		$ 0.77
Diluted earnings (loss) per share	$ (0.08)		$ 0.31		$ (0.19)		$ 0.72
Cash dividends per Common Share	$ .0375		$ .0375		$ .075		$ .065
Cash dividends per Class B Common Share	$ .030		$ .030		$ .060		$ .052
Weighted average number of shares outstanding - (000) Diluted	15,711		16,599		15,673		16,580

$120,597

	March 31, 2002	September 30, 2001
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 18,237	$ 30,091
Short-term investments	26,666	20,884
Refundable income taxes	5,680	6,196
Accounts receivable and other, net of allowances	12,864	14,787
Inventory	13,605	15,695
Other current assets	7,741	8,035
Total current assets	84,793	95,688
Property, plant, and equipment, net	13,592	13,634
Other assets	22,212	14,278
Total assets	$120,597	$123,600

LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	$ 6,081	$, 5,906
Other current liabilities	7,911	15,266
Total current liabilities	13,992	21,172
Long-term debt	3,000	3,000
Other long-term liabilities	6,008	5,482
Shareholders' equity	97,597	93,946
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity		$123,600

Products and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.

KEITHLEY INSTRUMENTS, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME (In Thousands of Dollars Except for Per Share Data) (Unaudited)

KEITHLEY INSTRUMENTS, INC.CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET(In Thousands of Dollars)(Unaudited)

KEITHLEY INSTRUMENTS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME
(In Thousands of Dollars Except for Per Share Data)
(Unaudited)

KEITHLEY INSTRUMENTS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
(In Thousands of Dollars)
(Unaudited)