1 DAIRY CREST GROUP PLC INTERIM RESULTS For the period ended 30 September 2005

2 Highlights Group Revenue £641.9m (2004: £630.5m) Adjusted profit before tax* £26.1m (2004: £35.7m) Adjusted earnings per share* 14.8 pence (2004: 20.8 pence) Interim dividend up 7% to 6.3 pence (2004: 5.9 pence) Net debt £301.2m (2004: £260.5m) * Including share of joint ventures and before special items and amortisation of intangible assets

3 Highlights Strong performance from Cathedral City, Clover and Petits Filous Cheese business benefiting from strong Cathedral City growth and firmer market prices New marketing campaigns launched for Country Life and St. Ivel advance Omega-3 milk (“Clever milk”) Planned launch of Omega-3 enriched St. Ivel Gold early in 2006 Additional fresh milk volume for Morrisons implemented at end of October 2005 Strategic acquisitions of Midlands Co-op Dairies and Starcross Foods to strengthen the Dairies division with integration progressing to plan

4 Financial Review Alastair Murray

5 Reporting Changes Financial information now presented under International Financial Reporting Standards with 2004/05 comparatives restated Full restatement of 2004/05 and reconciliation to UK GAAP available on company website: New divisional reporting Foods: Spreads, Cheese and YDC Dairies: Liquid Products, Household and Ingredients

6 Income Statement * All items include share of joint ventures

7 Earnings and Dividends

8 Segmental Analysis * Including share of joint ventures and before special items and amortisation of intangible assets

9 Trading Margin* * Including share of joint ventures and before special items and amortisation of intangible assets

10 Balance Sheet

11 Operating Cash Flow * Including share of joint ventures and before special items and amortisation of intangible assets

12 Cash Flow

13 Business Review Drummond Hall

14 £98m £38m £49m £65m We’ve got some big brands Brand portfolio including the YDC brands now worth over £500m at retail value Source: TNS / AC Nielsen Oct 2005

15 Well Invested Sites Investment in low cost operations to maintain competitive advantage Dairies division now has geographical reach to effectively cover England and Wales Davidstow is the most modern cheese facility of its type in Europe Nuneaton national distribution centre Totnes Severnside Chadwell Heath Fenstanton Foston NRC Dairies Northern distribution limit

16 Spreads Key brands have maintained market share Increased investment in media Moving towards a simplified portfolio - fewer brands / skus Good performance from Clover with sales value growth of 3% - lower proportion of sales on promotion - price increase achieved in September 2005 Utterly Butterly continues to make progress against competition -Increased share of dairy spreads sector -sales up 4% by volume but down 4% by value

17 Spreads St. Ivel Gold volume and share under pressure - sales down 2% by volume and 14% by value - new product development focused on health - new marketing campaign in early 2006 together with launch of St. Ivel Gold with Omega-3 Good growth in Country Life with sales of packet and spreadable up 4% and 15% by value respectively - new marketing campaign late Summer national TV advertising for the first time in 20 years

18 Cathedral City Strong performance from Cathedral City - sales up 16% by value - lower proportion of sales on promotion New packaging successfully launched National TV advertising

19 Cheese Cost based price increases achieved in summer benefit H2 performance -industry cheese stocks have continued to be tight Successful implementation of new own label supply arrangements with ASDA and Morrisons Reduced volumes of traded cheese Stilton business continues to be challenging Strong market for whey products

20 Cheese Stocks British Cheese Board cheddar stocks 12 month moving average K tonnes

21 Yoplait Dairy Crest Continued good growth in chilled yogurts and desserts market - driven predominantly by functional sector Brands continue to perform well with sales up 9% by value - Petits Filous up 24% and Frubes up 30% New product development -Petits Filous plus: probiotic yogurt drink for kids -Petits Filous smooth and fruity yogurt Closure of own label operations June improved performance in 2005/06

22 Liquid Products Volumes in H1 2005/06 impacted by Tesco volume ceased in April Morrisons increased volume implemented end of October 2005 Higher oil related costs Price increases achieved from March 2005 Continued strong growth in organic milk up over 50% by value - Rachels brand up 38% by value Flavoured milk volumes up 25% following business win with Tesco

23 Dairies Acquisitions Starcross Foods acquired 5 May 2005 for £17m -Foston, Derbyshire with current capacity c.100m litres of milk pa Midlands Co-op Dairies acquired May 2005 for £20m - sales of approximately 200m litres of milk pa - mixture of retail, wholesale and doorstep customers - 4 year contract to supply Co-op stores in Midlands region Acquisitions extend geographical reach to effectively cover England and Wales Integration into existing Dairies business progressing well -three household depots closed -Foston now processing milk for Morrisons -Birmingham dairy planned to close end February 2006

24 Other Liquid Products FRijj maintained market leading position -value down 9% due to lower promotional volume -considering options to increase capacity Potted cream volumes up over 30% - M&S own label cream transferred from YDC Enfield to new facility at Chard Skimmed milk powder and bulk butter markets remain strong St. Ivel advance has national distribution with all major retailers -brand endorsement from Professor Winston -“Clever milk” TV advertising launched in Nov 2005

25 Household Overall household volumes up 22% half on half -volume gained in middle ground -Midlands Co-op Dairies acquisition Underlying doorstep decline maintained at around 8% - increased investment in canvassing - first class service initiatives Non-milk product sales up by 17% Doorstep price increase from September 2005 of 2 pence per pint Acquisition of Arla’s London Foodservice business October 2005

26 Milk Procurement Strong working relationship with Dairy Crest Direct Around 70% of raw milk sourced from Dairy Crest Direct - majority of Midlands Co-op Dairies farmers have joined Increased prices on cheese contracts of 0.8 ppl maintained Price reductions on liquids contracts following 0.6 ppl increase in Spring 2005: -0.3 ppl from August ppl from November with commitment to maintain this price until March 2006

27 Outlook Trading conditions remain competitive with continued impact of high oil related costs Foods division expected to benefit in H2 from continued brand development and cheese price increases Dairies division materially strengthened with acquisition benefits coming through towards the end of the financial year Group’s expectations for full year remain unchanged

28 DAIRY CREST GROUP PLC INTERIM RESULTS For the period ended 30 September 2005