C&D News

C&D Technologies, Inc. Announces General Price Increase for Standby and Motive Power Products Effective March 1, 2006

BLUE BELL, Pa., Jan. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- C&D Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: CHP), a leading North American producer and marketer of electrical power storage and conversion systems used in telecommunications, industrial and motive applications, today announced a general price increase of 8% on all 10- and 20-year battery products, including hardware, components and parts, as well as all motive battery products, effective with orders placed starting March 1, 2006.

"Since our November 28, 2005 general pricing announcement, the market price for lead, which is a dominant raw material used for the manufacture of industrial battery products, has risen roughly 30%, from approximately $0.45/lb to $0.60/lb according to the industry benchmark London Metals Exchange (LME)," said Dr. Jeffrey Graves, President and Chief Executive Officer. "This base price escalation has been compounded by higher 'lead premiums' that are typically added by suppliers to the base LME price as a function of market conditions. This rapid escalation in total lead costs has occurred simultaneously with copper and polymer resin price increases of over 8% over this same period and a similarly dramatic rise in the price of natural gas used in battery manufacturing operations. While we are continuing to focus aggressively on productivity improvements and cost reduction efforts as a part of our Six Sigma initiative, increases of this magnitude that occur in essential commodity costs must be addressed in part through increased pricing to our customers. We continue to work with our suppliers to drive economies in the supply chain and are hopeful that this difficult cost environment is of limited duration."

Forward-looking Statements:

This press release may contain forward-looking statements (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), which are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in circumstances. Words and expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. Factors that appear with the forward- looking statements, or in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings (including without limitation the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2005, or the quarterly and current reports filed on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K thereafter), could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward- looking statements made herein.

C&D Technologies, Inc. provides solutions and services for the switchgear and control (utility), motive (material handling), telecommunications, and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) as well as emerging markets such as solar power. C&D Technologies engineers, manufactures, sells and services fully integrated reserve power systems for regulating and monitoring power flow and providing backup power in the event of primary power loss until the primary source can be restored. C&D Technologies' unique ability to offer complete systems, designed and produced to high technical standards, sets it apart from its competition. C&D Technologies is headquartered in Blue Bell, PA. For more information about C&D Technologies, visit http://www.cdtechno.com.

C&D(R) is a registered trademark of C&D Technologies, Inc.

SOURCE C&D Technologies, Inc. 01/19/2006
/CONTACT: Tom Lynn of C&D, +1-215-619-7848, or Joseph Crivelli of Gregory FCA, +1-610-642-8253, for C&D

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