It’s been said on many di ff erent occasions that “wherever  people need to be protected, MSA will be there.” In 2011 that expression took on greater significance for MSA as  another factor in our success was our ability to advance a  second pillar of our strategy – Investing In and Growing In  Emerging Markets.  Indeed, we are earning business from more customers in  more countries than ever before. In fact, in the pages that  follow, you can read about some of our more recent successes in these key growth markets. They are all great  stories, and they represent just the tip of the iceberg when  it comes to broadening MSA’s reach in these and other  emerging markets around the globe. Overall, I believe 2011 for MSA will be remembered as a  year in which we strengthened our company and our brand,  stayed true to our strategy, and established a new foundation  for MSA that will serve us well in the years ahead. Indeed,  2011 was a year with many highlights for MSA, and I’d like to  take the opportunity to share a few of them with you now. A Sampling of 2011 Success t Gross margins in North America improved significantly  over last year, due to such factors as improved sourcing  and strategic pricing initiatives. t Income from our Asia Pacific Zone, which includes China,  Japan and Australia, grew by 400 percent in 2011. t Our transformational reorganization e ff orts in Europe  gained solid traction and showed positive results in a still  challenging environment. Operating income in Western  Europe increased 72 percent over 2010 levels. And in  the Middle Eurasian countries, we achieved double-digit  growth in three out of our five Core Product groups in  2011, with Fixed Gas and Flame Detection sales up 41  percent compared to 2010. t The global fire service market, long a key business segment  for MSA, has been weak in recent years due to strained  municipal budgets in the U.S. and ongoing economic  uncertainty and related austerity measures elsewhere  around the world. However, that segment started to  come back a bit in 2011. In particular, one key win in Latin  America (highlighted on page 7) was a follow-up two- year contract to supply 4,000 FireHawk® M7 Air Masks and  related equipment to the Junta Nacional de Bomberos  (JNB) of Chile. The JNB is an institution comprised of  more than 37,000 volunteer firefighters and 307 fire  departments throughout the country. We also had great  competitive fire service wins in Halifax, Nova Scotia; Fresno,  California; and with several other major departments in the  U.S. But lastly, a particularly gratifying win for us was being  selected as the Air Mask supplier for the Pittsburgh Bureau  of Fire (PBF), located near our corporate headquarters,  after a rigorous and thorough evaluation process. t We planted a new MSA flag in Moscow and opened two  other regional o ffi ces in Russia. We see this as an important  strategic move for MSA as Russia is now the world’s largest  oil producer and the world’s second largest natural gas  producer. MSA is now better positioned to help ensure  that the thousands of oil and gas workers in this region are  working in an environment of optimum safety. t A big part of our e ff ort in Europe involves expanding the  number of distributors and channel partners who carry our products. We added 158 new channel partners in 2011, which is helping us to reach more customers in more industries. As part of the company’s emerging markets  strategy, MSA’s new o ffi ce in Moscow, shown  at left, provides important access and entrée  into one of the world’s largest oil, gas and  petrochemical markets.  City of Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl,  immediate right, visited MSA’s Murrysville,  Pa., facility with Pittsburgh Public Safety  Director Mike Huss and Pittsburgh  Firefighters Local No. 1 President Joe King,  far right, in recognition of MSA’s $2 million  contract win for Self-Contained  Breathing Apparatus (SCBA). MSA 2011 ANNUAL REPORT 3