PRESS RELEASE Berli Jucker announces 18 per cent jump in fourth quarter net profits as revenues for the full year surpass Baht 10 billion. Berli Jucker Public Co. Ltd. today announced its results for the three months and year ended 31st December 1996. Net profit for the fourth quarter reached Baht 146.9 million, 18 per cent higher than the same quarter in 1995, and took profit for the full year to Baht 610.4 million which was an increase of 13 per cent on 1995. Earnings per share for the year increased from Baht 9.37 to Baht 10.57. Commenting on the results, Berli Jucker's president Dr. Adul Amatavivadhana noted: "The headline figure of 13 per cent growth in net profit for the year reflects the benefits to the 1995 results of Baht 60 million after tax of gains from the sale and restructuring of investments. There were no similar items in 1996 and excluding these exceptional items from the 1995 results our growth in net profit this year was actually 27 per cent. Achieving sales of Baht 10.1 billion, an increase of 10 per cent compared with 1995, is a significant milestone and testament to the success of the Group's investment and expansion programme of recent years." Explaining the results for the year in more detail Dr. Adul added: "The spread of businesses across our four core lines of Consumer Products, Engineering, Glass Products and Technical Products has once again enabled Berli Jucker to achieve a solid growth in profitability despite the slowing economy. In 1996 the Consumer Products business was the main profit growth driver of the Group led by very strong sales of tissue paper, confectionery, snack foods, personal care products and wine. The divisions of the Company which distribute these products gained momentum throughout the year due to a combination successful new product launches, marketing innovations and improved distribution - in the fourth quarter these divisions achieved a 40 per cent growth in sales compared with the fourth quarter of 1995. Our Engineering businesses improved their contribution in the fourth quarter compared with 1995 but due to substantially increased losses at Thai Scandic Steel this group's contribution was negative for the year as a whole. The Company's own engineering division achieved exceptional profit growth due to the completion in the fourth quarter of two large crane installation projects while our associates Siemens Limited and BJT Water both achieved substantial performance improvements compared with 1995. Our Glass Products business achieved an 18 per cent growth in sales for the year but this growth came in the first six months and reflected the benefits of the substantial expansion in capacity which was commissioned in mid 1995. The second half of the year saw a number of key customers postponing orders and overall capacity utilisation in 1996 was lower than in 1995 which benefited from full utilisation in the first half of the year. Despite lower than expected demand, the Glass Products group achieved an increase in profit contribution of over 11% and prospects for further improvements in 1997 are very encouraging. The Technical Products business achieved strong growth in most areas led by significantly increased sales of pharmaceuticals, hospital supplies, chemicals and stationery although sales of photographic and imaging equipment were relatively flat due to a generally weakening market." With respect to the outlook for 1997 Dr. Adul went on to say: "Prospects in our key business areas are good. Further significant sales increases across the whole range of our Consumer Products are expected and we are seeing a resumption of demand growth for Glass Products. The Engineering group enters the year with a strong order book and in particular an improved outlook for Thai Scandic Steel now that design and management problems have been corrected. Our profitability in 1997 will be helped by the closure of a number of loss making non-core operations in 1996. We have switched our borrowings from mainly US dollars to mainly Baht to ensure we properly match our assets and liabilities. Although this superficially raises borrowing costs it provides an appropriate financing platform for our operations and, at this stage, I am expecting 1997 should be another year of good profit growth for the Group." February 28, 1997 For further information please contact: Dr. Adul Amatavivadhana, President Tel: 367-1012 David Nicol, Executive Vice President & C.F.O. Tel: 367-1024 E-Mail: davidnicol@berlijucker.com.th Note to the editor - the attached financial data is for information only and is not intended for publication. 2G