Final Results - Year Ended 31 Dec 1999, Part 1

Cookson Group PLC
6 March 2000

Part 1

COOKSON GROUP plc
ANNOUNCEMENT OF 1999 PRELIMINARY RESULTS

FINANCIAL SUMMARY*  Year              2nd Half
                    1999  1998        1999  1998  
Ongoing Operations                                
Sales (£m)          1,615 1,377 +17%  912   690   +32%
Operating profit£m)   144 131   +10%  86    62    +39%
Return on sales(%)   8.9   9.5        9.5   9.0   
Group                                             
Pre-tax profit(£m)   149   151   -2%   84    71    +18%
Earnings per        15.5  16.0  -3%   8.6   7.6   +13%
share(p)
Dividends per       9.5   9.4   +1%   5.2   5.1   +2%
share(p)
Free cash flow(£m)   27    27          47    57    

*(before exceptional items and goodwill amortisation)

Strategic Initiatives
-  Group transformed: £900 million of transactions in 1999
-  Disposal of Neptco and Plastic Moldings underway
-  Rationalisation and integration programmes on track
-  Group clearly focused on three market-leading divisions
   -  Electronics, Ceramics and Precious Metals

Financial Highlights
-  Profit before tax for year in line with expectations
-  Strong sales and profit growth in the second half of 1999
-  Positive free cash flow for fifth successive year

Commenting on the outlook, Stephen Howard, Group Chief
Executive, said:

'The improvement in trading conditions experienced in the fourth quarter of
1999, particularly by our Electronics and Ceramics divisions, is expected to
be sustained in the coming months.  We anticipate that the divestments
currently underway should be concluded during the first half and thus these
businesses will only add marginally to the Group's earnings in 2000.  The
Premier, Enthone and Plaskon acquisitions, which all took place in the
second half of 1999, will contribute an entire year's earnings in 2000,
though the full beneficial effects of the restructuring initiatives will
only flow through to Group earnings from 2001.  The key task for management
in the year ahead is to complete the integration of these acquisitions
and concentrate on achieving operational excellence throughout the Group.'

 STRATEGIC OVERVIEW

The transformation of Cookson was substantially completed during 1999.
The Group is now clearly focused on the three activities in which it has
demonstrable market leadership and excellent long-term prospects:
Electronics, Ceramics and Precious Metals.

Our goal over the past two years has been to create a Group with fewer,
stronger, leaner businesses that offer the best potential for profitable
growth.  Over the past year, we have:

- finalised our plans to exit from those activities identified as non-core;
- stepped up investment in the businesses which now represent Cookson's
  future;
- begun to reap the benefits from the major restructuring programme launched
  in late 1998.

During the year, we began to execute a strategy to focus the Group's
Engineering division solely on its Precious Metals activities.  As a
consequence, Cookson Fibers and our interests in Zimco and Entek were
disposed; the divestment of Focas was initiated; and the process of
disposing Neptco and Cookson Plastic Moldings is underway.  When these
businesses have been disposed, the reconstitution of the Engineering
division will be complete.  The division now consists exclusively of the
Group's Precious Metals activities - fine businesses with market leadership
positions and a long tradition of consistent, profitable growth. The sale
of TAM and Polyflex in the Electronics division during the year also
underscores our determination to optimise our leadership positions within
our core activities.

The year has also seen Cookson make its two most significant acquisitions
to date; significant both in size and strategic importance.  The purchase of
Premier Refractories ('Premier') for £254 million and its integration into
our Ceramics division creates a world class, global refractories group
with a pre-eminent product range and unparalleled service capability.  The
more recent acquisition of the Enthone-OMI group of companies ('Enthone')
for £315 million has created for our Electronics division a global player
with the broadest product range in the printed circuit board ('PCB')
fabrication industry.  It also advances our strategy of supplying
integrated solutions which encompass the full range of products and services
that our PCB fabrication and assembly customers require.

The addition of these two businesses to Cookson has contributed materially
to our strategy of providing customers with a breadth of offering and depth
of service that will give us a tangible competitive edge in our markets.
Importantly, the performance of these acquisitions will, when integrated,
meet our fundamental goal of earning a return on investment that exceeds
our cost of capital.  They are expected, therefore, to be value creating for
shareholders.

The wide-ranging restructuring initiative which commenced in late 1998 and
which encompassed the rationalisation of activities at over 30
manufacturing sites; the discontinuation of certain product lines; and the
streamlining of managerial and divisional functions, has proceeded on track.
The benefits began to accrue in 1999 and cost savings of £15 million in 2000
are targeted.

Cookson has placed considerable emphasis in all its businesses on the
development of, and investment in, e-business strategies and solutions.
Delivery of total customer service and supply chain velocity are already key
competitive advantages for Cookson.  E-business creates opportunities to
extend these advantages and to strengthen relationships further with our
customers and suppliers.  A number of key e-business initiatives have already
been implemented across all three divisions and we have recently set up a
Group e-business function, with a direct reporting line to the Group Chief
Executive, to co-ordinate and maximise the Group's e-business capabilities.

Over the course of 1999 we have experienced an increased momentum in our core
markets.  Specifically, the Electronics division began to see improvements
take hold in the second quarter and this gathered strength throughout the
second half.  For our Ceramics division, the recovery of the steel industry
only began to manifest itself in the fourth quarter of the year but has been
sustained since then.  For the Precious Metals division, the markets remain
sound.  We believe that our leading industry positions will allow us to
benefit from the improved trends in 2000.

TRADING RESULTS - ONGOING OPERATIONS

The review of the Trading Results for 1999 concentrates on the Group's
ongoing operations and on the profits and returns generated by these
businesses before goodwill amortisation and exceptional items.

The operating results of Discontinued Operations - Cookson Fibers, Zimco, TAM
Ceramics, Polyflex and Entek which were all sold in 1999, and the To be
Disposed Operations - Neptco, Cookson Plastic Moldings and Focas, which are
all in the process of disposal, are dealt with separately in this review.

All financial results in this section are stated at 1999 exchange rates.

Group
                    Year             2nd Half
                    1999    1998     1999    1998
Sales (£m)          1,615   1,390    912     694
Operating Profit(£m)144     133      86      63
Return on Sales(%)  8.9     9.5      9.5     9.1
Return on           11      12               
Investment (%)

Sales in 1999 increased by 16% over 1998 and, after excluding the
contribution of acquisitions, sales grew by 3%.  In the second half, the rate
of growth accelerated significantly, rising to 32% due to the contributions
of the Premier and Plaskon acquisitions and from an improvement in market
conditions for the Electronics and Ceramics divisions.  Excluding
acquisitions, sales in the first half were down 1% over the previous year, but
in the second half rose by a healthy 8%.

Operating profit increased by 9% in 1999 to £144.1 million.  A sharp
improvement in operating profit was achieved in the second half with an
increase of 37% being recorded.  Excluding acquisitions, operating profit
declined by 2% for the year whereas in the second half a rise of 15% was
achieved when compared with the corresponding period for 1998. Operating
profit now takes into account precious metal consignment fees, which
amounted to £5.2 million in both 1998 and 1999, and which had previously been
classified as interest.

Return on sales for 1999 declined to 8.9% in comparison with last year but,
encouragingly, in the second half return on sales improved to 9.5%, above
the same period last year.  Pre-tax return on investment ('ROI') of 11% for
1999 is within range of the Group's current estimated pre-tax cost of capital
of approximately 13% (9% after tax).  An improvement in ROI was registered by
the Electronics division; the excellent return achieved by the Precious
Metals division remains at a level well in excess of the Group's cost of
capital; whereas the ROI of the Ceramics division decreased from the high
levels achieved in prior years.

As more than 90% of the Group's trading profit arises from operating
locations outside the UK, reported earnings are influenced by changes in the
average sterling exchange rate. During 1999, the US dollar and Asia-Pacific
currencies appreciated moderately against sterling whereas Continental
European currencies depreciated. This had a net positive currency translation
effect of £2.2 million on the Group's operating profit when compared with
1998.


Divisional Activities

Electronics
                    Year             2nd Half
                    1999    1998     1999    1998
Sales (£m)          790     693      425     340
Operating Profit(£m) 65      52       38      23
Return on Sales(%)  8.2     7.5      8.8     6.7
Return on           10      9                
Investment (%)

The improvement in market conditions which began to emerge during the second
quarter of 1999 gathered pace during the second half of the year.  This,
together with the contribution from acquisitions, culminated in an increase
in sales of 14% for the full year and 25% in the second half.  Excluding
acquisitions, sales growth was 8% for the year and 14% in the second half.
Operating profit was up by 24% for the full year and 64% in the second half.
Profit growth excluding the contribution of acquisitions was 14% for the year,
which was reflected in the strong improvement in return on sales and return on
investment.

The results for the Alpha-Fry Technology sector were excellent. Sales volumes
in paste, spheres and coating products grew strongly and improved margins
were achieved, although the performance of the Industrial related activities
was less than satisfactory.  Market acceptance of recent product
introductions, including ball grid array ('BGA') solder spheres and the UP78
solder paste, remain positive and higher sales were achieved in stencils.
The integration of IRI, a manufacturer of stencils used in the PCB and
semiconductor packaging industries has been finalised, giving this business a
global presence.

The Plaskon Electronics Materials business, which was acquired in September,
has been integrated smoothly. Plaskon manufactures polymer based compounds,
which are used primarily to encapsulate electronic devices such as
semiconductor components, with most of its sales into the Asia-Pacific region.
The combination of Alpha-Fry's market leading position in the manufacture of
BGA spheres, together with that of Plaskon in the supply of encapsulation
compounds for BGAs, reinforces the division's pre-eminent role in the
fastest growing sector of the integrated circuit packaging market.

In the Speedline Technologies sector, demand was strong throughout the year
with sales and profits well up on 1998.  Importantly, the order book at the
end of 1999 was 28% higher than at the end of the previous year.  Sales in
North America were buoyant, grew strongly in the Asia-Pacific region and
improved in the second half in Europe.  A number of new product offerings
were launched, including the UP 1500 screen printer which addresses the mid-
range market.

Increased sales volumes and better manufacturing yields resulted in an
improved performance by the Polyclad Technologies sector.  Prices, however,
remained under pressure for most of the year due to customer consolidation
and industry overcapacity which held back sales growth.  Some easing of this
pressure emerged towards the end of the year, bringing more stability. In
Asia, market conditions for laminates remained excellent, with all large
customers reporting significant order books.  Demand for high technology
multi-layer printed circuit board substrates has remained strong, supported
by buoyant conditions in the mobile phone and PC markets.

During the year, two significant acquisitions within the Sector were
announced,
which will enable Polyclad Technologies to provide its PCB fabrication
customers with the most comprehensive range of products and process
capabilities in the market.  The first was the acquisition of the PCB
materials business of the Dexter Corporation which manufactures process
chemicals, imaging products and solder primarily for fabricators of printed
circuit boards.

This was followed by the acquisition of Enthone which was announced in
December. Enthone manufactures speciality chemicals for the electronics,
surface metal finishing and jewellery industries in North America, Europe and
Asia and employs 1,300 people.  The majority of Enthone's products, which
include metalising, plating and surface finishing chemicals, solder masks,
and photo-imageable materials are used in the fabrication of PCBs. Enthone
also manufactures and supplies semiconductor fabrication chemicals to the
high growth semiconductor packaging industry, complementing Cookson
Electronics' existing BGA spheres activities and the Plaskon encapsulants
business.  The integration of Enthone should be substantially completed by the
end of 2000 with approximately £12 million in annual savings being
derived from 2001 onwards, at a cost in 2000 of approximately £12 million.

The Cookson Performance Solutions sector is a new venture which was launched
during the year to enhance the division's integrated solutions strategy.
This new service group will provide customised consulting services and
training programmes to capitalise on the unique process capabilities which
Cookson Electronics has developed in support of its market-leading product
range.  The focus is currently on internet delivered e-training and process
consultancy services for customers of the Alpha-Fry Technologies and Speedline
Technologies sectors.


Ceramics

                    Year             2nd Half
                    1999    1998     1999    1998
Sales (£m)          542     418      338     207
Operating Profit(£m)50      53       31      23
Return on Sales(%)  9.1     12.6     9.2     10.9
Return on           10      15               
Investment (%)

Two thirds of the division's businesses serve the steel industry worldwide.
The considerable weakness exhibited by the global steel market during the
second half of 1998 continued throughout the first half of 1999, during which
period worldwide steel production decreased by 5%.  Market conditions in the
second half of the year improved considerably and global steel production was
up 1% for the year, though the level of activity was still well below that of
the first half of 1998.  Most of the recovery was in the fourth quarter with
strong growth from the Asia-Pacific region.  Of particular note was the
recommissioning of thin slab projects in the Asia-Pacific region which had
been put on hold in 1998.  The division's largest markets - USA and Europe -
also began to recover in the fourth quarter, albeit more gradually.

In light of the generally depressed market conditions experienced for most of
the year, sales and operating profit, excluding acquisitions, were down 3%
and 22% respectively on the prior year. Including acquisitions, primarily
Premier, sales were up 30%, though operating profits were down 6%. The second
half was more encouraging with improved results being achieved. Return on
sales and on investment for the year were adversely affected primarily as a
consequence of the decline in profit.

In August, the acquisition of Premier was completed.  Premier is a
manufacturer and supplier of refractory products, services and systems for
the steel, glass, foundry, aluminium and cement industries. The majority of
Premier's products and services are complementary, enabling the division to
provide customers in the steel, glass, aluminium and foundry industries with
a more comprehensive range of products and services.  Since the
acquisition, considerable progress has been made on the integration of
Premier into the Ceramics division.  The costs associated with the
integration have been revised upward but with a commensurate increase in
cost savings.  These savings are now expected to amount to £13 million in
2000, rising to £30 million per annum from 2001 onwards.

In the Glass Sector, shipments of fused-cast products for lining glass
furnaces remained low, as expected, throughout the year.  The acquisition of
the glass refractory activities of the German-based group VGT-Dyko took place
in April and its integration into the sector has progressed smoothly,
strengthening the division's position in Europe.

In the Foundry and Industrial Products sector, tighter market conditions
progressively impacted throughout the period, particularly in the
investment casting business. Some positive signs have, however, begun
to emerge in the primary aluminium markets and generally in Asia.


Precious Metals

                    Year             2nd Half
                    1999    1998     1999    1998
Sales (£m)          283     279      149     147
Operating Profit(£m)30      28       18      18
Return on Sales(%)  10.6    10.0     11.9    11.9
Return on           20      20               
Investment (%)


The division comprises two sectors: Jewellery and Precision Products.  The
Jewellery sector, which contributes approximately three-quarters of the
division's sales and operating profit, is one of the world's leading
suppliers of fabricated precious metals to the gold jewellery and silversmith
industries.  With operations in the USA and in Europe, its Mill businesses
supply gold and silver wire, sheet, tubing and casting grains and is also a
major supplier of blanks for coins and medals to customers in the USA,
including the US Mint. The sector also produces 'findings', which are high
quality gold, gold-filled and silver jewellery components. The Precision
Products sector manufactures and  supplies electrical contacts, contact
assemblies and complex and intricate stampings, as well as a range of dental
products.

Sales for the full year were up 1%, although if the precious metal content
is excluded, sales were up 5%.  This reflects an underlying increase in
volumes and a particularly good performance from the Precision Products
sector.
Operating profit was up 8% over 1998.  Return on sales rose and the return on
investment remained at levels well above the Group's cost of capital. The
results of the division now take account of precious metal consignment fees
previously charged to Group interest.

In the Jewellery sector, the US mill business encountered patchy trading
conditions at the start of the year, but performance improved in the second
half.  In the UK, increased imports continued to put pressure on margins.
Sound trading conditions were experienced in the findings businesses,
where improved results arose from new product initiatives and increased market
penetration.

In the Precision Products sector, performance was sound.  Matrix, the
integrated moulding component business which was acquired in 1998, performed
above expectations.

GROUP PROFIT BEFORE TAX

Operating profit before goodwill amortisation and exceptional items for all
of the Group's activities was £172.5 million, 1% higher than the £170.0
million achieved in 1998. The £2.5 million increase arose as follows:


                                      £ millions
                                      Actual     Inc/(Dec)
                                      1999       vs 1998
                                                 
Ongoing operations (analysed above)   144.1      11.6
: Electronics                         64.6       12.5
: Ceramics                            49.5       (3.0)
: Precious Metals                     30.0       2.1
                                                 
To be disposed (analysed below)       20.4       1.7
: Neptco, Moldings, Focas
                                                 
Discontinued operations (all sold in  8.0        (13.0)
1999)
: Cookson Fibers, Zimco, TAM, Entek,
Polyflex
                                                 
Exchange rate variance                -          2.2
                                                 
GROUP                                 172.5      2.5

Net interest paid of £24.0 million in 1999 was £5.3 million higher than the
previous year.  The increase was due primarily to a rise in borrowings that
took place in the second half to fund the acquisitions of Premier, Plaskon,
Dexter and the initial payment for Enthone.  This resulted in net interest of
£15.0 million in the second half, an increase of £4.8 million over the same
period in 1998.

Profit before taxation, exceptional items and goodwill amortisation of £148.5
million for 1999 was 2% lower than the £151.3 million achieved in 1998.
In the second half, however, due to the marked improvement in performance from
ongoing operations, profit before tax rose by 18% to £84.0 million.

Goodwill arising on acquisitions since 1 January 1998 is capitalised and
amortised over 20 years.  The charge for 1999 was £12.9 million (1998:
£2.8 million).   Profit before tax but after all exceptional items and
goodwill amortisation amounted to £71.6 million in 1999, well up on the £9.4
million achieved in 1998.


EXCEPTIONAL ITEMS

Operating Exceptionals
The restructuring initiative that commenced in the fourth quarter of 1998 was
substantially completed in 1999. The cost savings that were derived from this
initiative amounted to £8 million in 1999 and are expected to rise to  £15
million per annum from 2000 onwards.  The total cash related cost of
implementation was £30 million, £21 million of which was expensed in 1999,
with the balance being outlaid in 1998.

Following the acquisition of Premier in August 1999, an extensive programme
was embarked upon to integrate it into the Ceramics division. As a
consequence,
exceptional costs of £23 million were incurred in 1999 of which £10 million
were in respect of a write down of assets affected by the programme. In
addition, a further £23 million of costs are expected to arise in 2000 to
complete the programme. The cost savings that are targeted to arise from this
initiative are approximately £13 million in 2000 and £30 million per annum
from 2001 onwards.

Non-operating exceptional items
Exceptional charges of £18.4 million arose in 1999 (1998: £89.6 million).
These relate primarily to losses arising from the disposals of TAM and
Entek and additional costs relating to businesses disposed of in prior years.
The 1998 charge related to the losses arising from the disposals of Cookson
Fibers and Zimco.


TAXATION

The taxation charge on Group profit before tax, goodwill amortisation and
exceptional items for 1999 was £38.5 million, representing an effective rate
of 26.0% (1998: 26.0%).  The tax credit on exceptional items amounted to £5.2
million (1998: £11.9 million).


SHAREHOLDER RETURNS

Earnings
Profit after tax and minority interests, but before goodwill amortisation and
exceptional items, was £108.4 million in comparison with £109.9 million for
1998. This represents basic earnings per share of 15.5p for 1999, 3% lower
than the 16.0p achieved in 1998.  However, in the second half, earnings per
share rose by 13% to 8.6p. After taking account of goodwill amortisation and
all exceptional items, earnings per share were 5.2p  (1998: 2.9p deficit).
The weighted average number of shares in issue in 1999 was 700 million, up 2%
on last year.

Dividends
The Board has proposed a final dividend of 5.2p per share, which is a 2%
increase over the 5.1p final dividend for 1998. This would result in total
dividends per share for 1999 of 9.5p, 1% up on the 9.4p of the previous year.
Dividends for 1999 are covered 1.6 times by earnings per share before
goodwill amortisation and exceptional items and are fully covered by Free
Cash Flow.  The final dividend will be paid on 1 June 2000 to shareholders
on the Register at 17 March 2000.


FREE CASH FLOW


£ millions                         Year
                                   1999    1998
                                   
Operating Activities before        192    223
Rationalisation Costs
less : Capital Expenditure (net)   67     71
:  Tax Paid                        15     46
:  Interest and Dividends          83     79
Free Cash Flow before              27     27
Rationalisation Costs
less : Rationalisation Costs       21     7
Free Cash Flow                     6      20


The £31 million decrease in cash flow from operating activities before
rationalisation costs primarily arose from an increased investment in working
capital.  This was mainly due to the strong levels of trading activity that
were experienced at the end of 1999, especially when compared with the
depressed levels at the end of 1998.  Working capital balances were, on
average, lower than 1998 and, expressed as a percentage of sales, improved
from 24.1% to 23.7%.

Capital expenditure in 1999 of £81 million was 5% down on the previous year
as was the rate of spend for the year at 1.5 times depreciation. Fixed
asset disposals, primarily land and buildings, generated £14 million (1998:
£15 million) of cash.

The decrease in tax paid of £31 million arose principally from a recovery of
Advance Corporation Tax following the decision to pay dividends in 1998 and
1997 in the form of Foreign Income Dividends, and from a refund of prior year
tax payments in the USA.

Free cash flow of £27 million before exceptional costs was unchanged from
1998 and after exceptional items amounted to £6 million.  In each of the past
five years the Group has generated positive free cash flow, and the
cumulative free cash flow for that five-year period amounts to £112 million.


ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSALS

Acquisitions.  Cash outlaid in 1999 for the £736 million of acquisitions
that were concluded in the year amounted to £394 million. The major
acquisitions were as follows:

                  Effective     Consideration
                  Date          (£m)
                                Total    Cash
                                         paid
                                         1999
Electronics                              
Enthone           December      315      31
Plaskon           September     75       75
Dexter            December      21       21
IRI               April         11       11
Others                          12       12
                                         
Ceramics                                 
Premier           August        254      196
Others                          22       22
                                         
Precious Metals                 10       10
                                         
Other                           16       16
                                         
GROUP                           736      394

The consideration of £284 million that was due to the vendors of Enthone at
the end of 1999 was paid on 11 January 2000. As part of the consideration
paid to the vendors of Premier, the Group issued 32.3 million shares at £1.83
per share.

Disposals.  Cash received for disposals completed in 1999 amounted to £158
million as the Group continued to pursue its strategy of focussing on its
core activities.  The disposals consisted of the following:

Cookson Fibers (£92 million), Zimco (£3 million) and Entek (£14 million) all
of which had been part of the former Engineering division; and TAM Ceramics
(£49 million), a non-core activity in the Electronics division.

Agreement has been reached to dispose of Polyflex, another non-core business
in the Electronics division, for £12 million.   Completion took place in
March 2000.


FINANCIAL CONDITION

Shareholders' funds amounted to £578 million at 31 December 1999, up £39
million in comparison with 1998.  The increase arose primarily from the issue
of 33.6 million ordinary shares, 32.3 million of which were used to fund
partially the acquisition of Premier.

Gross borrowings at 31 December 1999 were £512 million (1998: £316 million)
and cash balances £50 million (1998:£97 million). Following the completion of
the acquisition of Enthone on 11 January 2000 and payment of the proceeds
then due, the Group's net borrowings rose to approximately £750 million.
At the end of 1999, the Group had committed facilities of £922 million and
uncommitted lines of approximately £70 million.

The Group aims to optimise its weighted average cost of capital whilst
maintaining a prudent mix of debt and equity.  To this end, the current
funding strategy incorporates a greater use of borrowings than in recent
years. The Group's internal funding policy indicates interest cover of
between four and five times as being currently appropriate, with interest
cover being expressed as operating profit before goodwill amortisation and
exceptional items divided by net interest. For 1999, interest was covered 7.2
times (1998: 9.1 times). On a proforma basis, which assumes that the
Premier, Enthone and Plaskon acquisitions had been acquired with effect from
the beginning of 1999, interest cover would have been 4.4 times.


BUSINESSES TO BE DISPOSED

                    Year             2nd Half
                    1999    1998     1999    1998
Sales (£m)          223*    179      127*    93
Operating Profit(£m)20      19       10      10
Return on Sales(%)  9.1     10.5     8.1     10.8

*(includes £28 million sales to capitalise ELI investment - see below)

Cookson Plastic Moldings achieved sound results for 1999 with sales and
operating profits well up on last year.  Features of the year were the ramp
up in production of plastic pallets for CHEP and a solid performance from its
recreational products business.

Neptco had an excellent year and sales and profits grew strongly with the
performance of the cover-tapes business particularly noteworthy.

Focas had a difficult year and registered an operating loss.  The US
activities suffered from a number of projects being postponed or cancelled,
whereas the UK based activities performed well.

The construction by Focas of a fibre-optic cable network for Electric
Lightwave, Inc. ('ELI') was substantially completed during 1999. A revenue
sharing agreement, which derives from a partnership with ELI for this
network, is expected to begin to generate income from 2000 when the
network becomes operational.  This investment has been capitalised at £28
million.


YEAR 2000

The Group's Year 2000 programme was successfully implemented across the Group.
No material problems were encountered within the Group's operations or have
been notified by its customers and suppliers.  The total cost incurred in
order to minimise the impact of the Year 2000 date change was £15 million, of
which £12 million was capitalised as it related to computer systems which
have ongoing benefit to the Group and will help facilitate the development of
the Group's e-business strategies.


OUTLOOK

The improvement in trading conditions experienced in the fourth quarter of
1999, particularly by our Electronics and Ceramics divisions, is expected to
be sustained in the coming months.  We anticipate that the divestments
currently underway should be completed during the first half and thus these
businesses will only add marginally to the Group's earnings in 2000. The
Premier, Enthone and Plaskon acquisitions, which all took place in the
second half of 1999, will contribute an entire year's earnings in 2000,
though the full beneficial effects of the restructuring initiatives will only
flow through to Group earnings from 2001.

The key task for management in the year ahead is to complete the
integration of these acquisitions and concentrate on achieving operational
excellence throughout the Group.  It is clear that our leading industry
positions enabled the Group to weather the difficult conditions in the first
half of 1999.  We believe that this will also stand Cookson in good stead to
benefit from the improved market trends.


For further information please contact:

Stephen Howard               Dennis Millard
Group Chief Executive        Group Finance Director
Cookson Group plc            Cookson Group plc
London WC2N 6HJ              London WC2N 6HJ
Tel: [phone]     Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]     Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]    E-mail: [e-mail]


Copies of the 1999 Annual Report will be mailed to the shareholders of the
Company by no later than 31 March and will be available at the Registered
Office of the Company, Cookson Group plc, at The Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam
Street,
London WC2N 6HJ.

6 March 2000

 MORE TO FOLLOW