AGM Statement

Cookson Group PLC
25 April 2001

                                                        Thursday 26 April 2001



            TRADING UPDATE PROVIDED AT THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

At the Annual General Meeting of Cookson Group plc, which was held today, the
following statement was made with regard to trading in the first quarter of
2001 and the outlook for the second quarter.

''As stated at the end of February when the Group released its preliminary
results for 2000, trading conditions in 2001 for the Group's major markets
have been most difficult.

'The electronics industry experienced an exceptionally sharp fall in demand in
the first quarter, particularly in the USA where printed circuit board (PCB)
manufacturing volumes are well down and order intake has fallen at an
unprecedented ratehave fallen by 40%. In addition, capacity utilisation by
some of the Electronics division's major customers has more than halved. As a
consequence, demand for the division's products and services has been
adversely affected and sales for the first quarter fell by 13% in comparison
with the same period last year. The downturn was most acute in our assembly
equipment business, Speedline, with sales some 40% lower than both the first
and last quarters of 2000. For the division's consumable products - primarily
PCB laminates, chemicals and assembly materials - the slowdown was far much
less pronounced, although offtake did slow considerably in March. Management
has responded swiftly to the change in market conditions and, since the
beginning of the year, headcount has been reduced by 1,550 people,
approximately 18% of the division's total.

'Turning to our Ceramics division, global steel production was flat in the
first quarter compared with the same quarter a year ago. However, steel
production in the USA, which accounts for some 40% of the division's sales to
the industry, fell by 12%. The performance of our Steel sector was therefore
significantly held back by its US activities as virtually all other regions
recorded improved sales and profits. The Glass and Foundry sectors have also
shown some signs of improvement, albeit marginal. During the first quarter,
the non-core magnesia chemicals business was disposed for a consideration of £
21.5 million. The integration programme for the Premier Refractories
acquisition continues as planned and and a further headcount reduction of 130
people was achieved in the first quarter.the rationalisation of our
manufacturing sites in the US and UK - the last but most significant element
of this programme - will be completed by the end of this year.

'In the Precious Metals division, performance was better in the Jewellery
sector and in line with last year for the Precision Products sector. The
integrations programmes for of E-CLAL and Excell, which were acquired in the
second half of last year, are well advanced.

'As a consequence of the foregoing, Group pre-tax profit for the first quarter
was well down on the same quarter last year. The outlook is that the difficult
trading conditions we are currently experiencing are likely to persist, at
least throughout the second quarter. Management remains confident of the
long-term benefits of derived from the Group's global market positions and
will continue to take firm and swift action to respond to market conditions,
to maintain our competitiveness and to ensure that the Group takes full
advantage of a recovery in our markets.'



For further information, please contact:

Stephen Howard

Group Chief Executive

Cookson Group plc

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

e-mail: [e-mail]



Dennis Millard

Group Finance Director

Cookson Group plc

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

e-mail: [e-mail]