Trading Statement

Smith (DS) PLC
25 April 2008



                                                                   25 April 2008


                 DS SMITH PLC PRE-CLOSE TRADING UPDATE

DS Smith Plc, the international packaging manufacturer and office products
wholesaler, today issues the following trading update ahead of its preliminary
results announcement for the year to 30 April 2008.

Trading in the second half of 2007/08 has been in line with management's
expectations at the time of the Group's interim results announcement in
December. Accordingly, performance has been well ahead of last year.

The Group continues to benefit from the recovery of higher input costs in
Corrugated Packaging and the improving performance in Office Products
Wholesaling.  As previously indicated, demand for corrugated packaging has
slowed since the summer of 2007.  This has led to some softening of corrugated
case materials (CCM) prices across our markets; the strength of the euro
provides a support to prices in our important UK market.

We are preparing for a more challenging trading environment in 2008/09.  We have
confidence that our good market positions give us a strong base from which to
compete.

DS Smith Plc plans to announce its results for financial year 2007/08 on 26 June
2008.



Enquiries


DS Smith Plc                                   020 7932 5000

Tony Thorne, Group Chief Executive
Steve Dryden, Group Finance Director
Peter Aubusson, Group Communications Manager



Financial Dynamics                             020 7269 7140
Andrew Dowler




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