The Cooper Companies to Hold Annual Meeting of Stockholders on March 23 in New York

The Cooper Companies to Hold Annual Meeting of Stockholders on March 23 in New YorkLAKE FOREST, Calif., March 18, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO) will hold its annual meeting of stockholders on March 23rd, 2004 at the Omni Berkshire Place, 21 East 52nd Street, New York, NY at 10:00am EST.

A. Thomas Bender, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of The Cooper Companies, will preside at the meeting. Investors and others who are interested may listen to the meeting on Cooper's website at www.coopercos.com.

Corporate Information

The Cooper Companies, Inc. manufactures and markets specialty healthcare products through its CooperSurgical and CooperVision units. Its corporate offices are in Lake Forest and Pleasanton, Calif. Its World Wide Web address is www.coopercos.com. A toll free interactive telephone system at 1-800-334-1986 provides stock quotes, recent press releases and financial data.

CooperSurgical manufactures and markets diagnostic products, surgical instruments and accessories to the women's healthcare market. With headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Trumbull, Conn., it also manufactures in Bedminster, N.J., Cranford, N.J., Fort Atkinson, Wis., Malmo, Sweden, Montreal and Berlin. Its World Wide Web address is www.coopersurgical.com.

CooperVision manufactures and markets a broad range of contact lenses. Headquartered in Lake Forest, Calif., it manufactures in Huntington Beach, Calif., Rochester, N.Y., Norfolk, Va., Adelaide, Australia, Hamble, England, Madrid, Spain and Toronto. Its Web address is www.coopervision.com

CONTACT:
The Cooper Companies, Inc., Lake Forest
Norris Battin
888-822-2660
ir@coopercompanies.com