Croda International Plc 2003 Preliminary Results

Summary Continuing pre-tax profit up 1.6% to £38.5m Pre-exceptional EPS up 8% to 19.2p Cash flow per share up 27% to 25.5p Net debt further reduced by £23m to £29m Growth in core markets

Summary of continuing operations £m £m Sales ============ ============ Operating profit Interest(2.9)(4.0) __________ __________ Profit before tax ========== ========= EBITDA ========== =========

Statistics Pre-exceptional EPS (p) Dividend per share (p) Cash flow per share (p) Dividend cover (x) Interest cover (x) Tax rate35.4%35.6%

Turnover change on prior year* VolumeCurrencyMix/Total Price % % % % H H Year * Continuing operations only

Sales by destination * United Kingdom Rest of Europe Americas Asia Rest of World ____________ ___________ ____________ ___________ ____________ ___________ ___________ ___________ £m % * Continuing operations only

Sales by market * Personal & Health Care Home Care & Plastics Additives Industrial Specialities Other ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ £m % £m % * Continuing operations only

Value/volume change on prior year* % ofValueVolume Sales % % 58Personal and Health Care Home Care and Plastics Additives Industrial Specialities Other ________ 100 _________ * Continuing operations only

Oleochemicals trading margin* * Continuing operations only

Specific operating costs £mExpectedActualActual UK Pension costs Insurance

Effect of 2004 US Dollar exchange rate on 2003 results * Turnover - £14m Profit- £3m Assuming average exchange rate of $1.85 * Continuing operations only

Exceptional items ActualFire Fighting £m £m Non-cash (0.3)(3.6) Cash 4.6(0.2) ___________ ___________ Profit/(loss) before tax4.3(3.8) ___________ ___________

UK pension balance Asset/(liability) before tax33.1(91.8) Deferred tax(10.0)27.6 __________ __________ Net asset/(liability) December (64.2) ========= ========= Net asset/(liability) December (62.8) ========= ========= £m SSAP 24 FRS 17

Cash Working capital reduction of £3.6m Net debt reduction of £23.1m Net debt at 31 December 2003 was down to £29.0m

Operating cash flow £m £m Operating profit Depreciation and amortisation Stock Debtors1.0(3.7) Creditors Other(1.4)(6.4) __________ _________ Operating cash flow __________ _________

Net cash flow £m Operating cash flow Interest(2.8)(3.9) Dividends(13.9)(13.0) Taxation(12.2)(10.7) Net Capex(11.7)(13.4) Own shares(0.2)(0.8) Acquisitions/Disposals2.0(1.8) __________ _________ Net cash flow __________ _________

Summary of trading Good sales growth in Personal and Health Care Margins maintained USA weaker in second half Good growth in Europe

Business development

New products Crodarom - Pearl extract Oleochemicals - Crostyle Sederma - Rigin

Pearl extract PEARLS - the beauty and anti-ageing concept in traditional Chinese medicine In traditional Chinese medicine it is believed that pearl powder can nourish the skin and slow down ageing processes by improving the metabolism, supporting moisturisation and protecting against the effects of environmental damage

Pearl extract Aragonite Valuable Oligoelements Pearls mainly consist of Aragonite, a calcium salt and traces of other valuable salts Pearls in cosmetics are used for Rejuvenation Protection Hydration Remineralisation

Crostyle Croda’s new and novel cationic hydrolysed starch derivative, used as a hair fixative and styling aid

Crostyle Compared to commonly used hair fixatives Crostyle improves curl retention and acts as an excellent anti-frizz active for hair prone to frizz % Curl retention after two hours at high humidity WaterHair Spritz Formula Hair Spritz Formula + Crostyle

Crostyle It also significantly reduces static flyaway Other benefits include a much reduced tackiness, improved sensory feel and easy wash-out. % Reduction in static flyaway

A lipopeptide especially designed to tone up face and neck skin Rigin

THE SKIN MICRORELIEF PRINCIPLE YOUNG SKIN AGED SKIN High small furrows density Low small furrows density Rigin

CLAIM SUBSTANTIATION IN VIVO TESTS : MICRORELIEF Blind study against placebo during 14 days 15 volunteers Twice daily application of a cream containing 3% RIGIN  on the forearm Image analysis of SILFLO  prints SMALL FURROWS DENSITY (depth<50µm): + 17% SKIN SMOOTHNESS: + 14% Rigin

CLAIM SUBSTANTIATION IN VIVO TESTS : FIRMNESS / ELASTICITY Blind study against placebo during 28 days 17 volunteers Twice daily application of a cream containing 3% RIGIN  on cheek and neck Measurements by cutometry FIRMNESS % ELASTICITY+ 17.6% FIRMNESS % ELASTICITY % Rigin

Health Care update Provensis Airozin IBS

Outlook Negative currency impact Rebound in USA Continued growth in Europe Development of speciality lipids business Many new products