AGM Statement

Avon Rubber PLC
19 January 2006


Embargoed until 7.00am
19 January 2006
                               Avon Rubber p.l.c.

                          CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT FOR AGM

At the Annual General Meeting to be held later today, the Chairman, Mr. Trevor
Bonner, will make the following statement:-

'At the time of our Preliminary Statement in early December 2005 we said that
the Group was in a period of transition. We noted that our Automotive operations
were performing well despite the tough market conditions and that we had an
exciting new range of products coming through in our Protection and Engineered
Products businesses. We also indicated that we expected our continued
investment, particularly in the future Protection and Engineered Products
opportunities to deliver enhanced performance over the next two to three years.
This remains the case. We have continued to see increased energy and raw
material costs. However, we have taken actions to reduce our other overhead
costs, continue to do so through this period of transition and will maintain our
emphasis on strong cash management.

Automotive is a tough global market. We are committed to remaining competitive.
To achieve this we will continue to strive to have the best manufacturing
systems and processes and move more of our manufacturing to lower labour cost
areas. As part of this approach in the last twelve months we have closed the
facility in Calaf, Spain, whilst in the same period investing in a new lower
cost manufacturing unit in Turkey. Our goal is to achieve our objectives without
suffering the substantial exceptional cash costs that we have in the past.

In North America the overall automotive market has remained fairly robust with
total sales of vehicles in 2005 marginally higher than in 2004. However, five of
the top six manufacturers saw volume reductions, as the 'new domestic' car
manufacturers continue to take market share from the established 'big three'.
Our sales in the first quarter of our financial year have remained at similar
levels to last year. We have seen continued strong demand for our GREENbarTM
product for the small engine market and our operation in Orizaba, Mexico
continued to grow as it wins more business. We are seeing some reduction in
demand in our second quarter but expect sales to return to previous levels in
the second half.

In Europe we are seeing a consolidation of our improved performance from the
last financial year. The new global Automotive structure has resulted in a
better focus on customer needs and as a result we are beginning to win new
orders for future years. We are at the point of moving equipment into the new
facility in Turkey and expect production to start there during the early part of
2006.

In Protection and Engineered Products a major strategic review has been
undertaken in the areas of business outside Protection during the past six
months. This work is nearly complete and we would expect to start the
implementation of the revised strategy over the next few months.

We continue to see the Protection business as one of great opportunity. We are
starting the production phase of the new US military respirator (now called the
M50) and have already produced a number of the M53 variant of this product. We
expect to receive final European approvals for our newly developed Rapid Escape
Hood this month and anticipate moving straight into production with sales
starting as early as February. We have been selected as the preferred supplier
to the UK emergency services, subject to these approvals. All our government
based new contracts are seeing some degree of slippage for initial introduction
which will delay the growth in our Protection business in the first half.

Sales of dairy rubberware in North America continue at a consistently high level
and we expect this to remain the case. In Europe we have seen some decline in
sales over the last twelve months and are at present reconsidering the most
appropriate channels to market. We believe, with our product range and our
technical expertise, the dairy business has real potential to grow into a strong
international business.

The order book at our fabrications business in Mississippi remains buoyant and
we expect this to result in a stronger financial performance in 2006.

We shall continue to address the cost base in the UK operations of Protection
and Engineered Products as we do not believe we are making acceptable returns
for these types of business.

Based on current trading and demand the outcome in the first half is unlikely to
be better than the pre-exceptional result for the corresponding period last year
on a UK GAAP basis. We anticipate a significant improvement in the second half
as we start to see an increased contribution coming from our growing Protection
activities.'

                                    - END -

For further enquiries please contact:

Weber Shandwick Square Mile
Richards Hews / Stephanie Badjonat                                 020 7067 0700





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