AGM Statement

RNS Number:0187B
Chloride Group PLC
20 July 2004



                                                                    20 July 2004


                               CHLORIDE GROUP PLC

                            ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING


At today's AGM the Chairman, Norman Broadhurst, made the following statement to
shareholders:


"I am pleased to announce that Chloride made significant progress in the last
financial year achieving sales growth of 7% in a competitive market environment.
We also achieved a 19% increase in operating profit, driven by margin
improvements across the business as we continued to reduce costs, grow higher
margin service revenues and improve efficiencies in product manufacturing and
distribution.  Earnings growth was supported by strong operating cash flow at
141% of operating profit.


At the time of our Preliminary Results announcement on 27 May, I said that the
last three years had been challenging for Chloride as the market experienced a
sharp decline, followed by continuing low levels of capital investment notably
in telecoms, information technology and commercial sectors.  Nevertheless, as I
previously stated, we remain confident in the underlying growth drivers in our
markets.  We have been encouraged by recent signs of recovery in our core
markets and believe the actions we have taken to realign the business in
response to the changing environment put us in a good position to leverage any
upturn in the market.


During the year we continued to invest in the long-term future of the business
through product development, enhancement of our total solutions and service
capabilities, strengthening of our marketing and IT systems, as well as laying
the foundations for long-term growth in the strategically important Chinese
market.


Looking forward, there are continuing signs of recovery in our key markets, our
order book is ahead of the first quarter last year and service revenues are up
year on year.  We believe we can benefit from good opportunities this year,
particularly in the oil and gas, energy, telecoms, financial services and
transportation sectors.  All these factors give us confidence that through our
commitment to delivering outstanding solutions and services to our customers in
our chosen markets, Chloride is well placed to drive profit and sales growth and
deliver further value to our shareholders."


Enquiries:                                                            Telephone:   

Chloride Group PLC                                          [phone]

    Keith Hodgkinson (Chief Executive)

    Neil Warner (Finance Director)

Hudson Sandler                                              [phone]

       James Hill


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            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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