Pre-close Update

Molins PLC
17 December 2004

17 DECEMBER 2004                                           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE




                                   MOLINS PLC


                                Pre-close update


Molins, the international specialist engineering company, issues the following
update ahead of its preliminary results announcement in February 2005.


Re-organisation

The interim results announcement in September reported a sharp reversal in the
performance of the Tobacco Machinery division and set out the action being taken
to re-organise the division. The implementation is proceeding to plan and in
addition further opportunities have been found to rationalise the operations and
reduce the cost base.

As previously announced the engineering, sales and marketing activities of
Molmac, the Group's UK rebuild business, are being merged with those at
Saunderton, the division's centre of operations.  These plans have since been
expanded to include the assembly operation. All production will be transferred
by the end of this month either to Saunderton or our facility in Plzen. The
premises leased by Molmac will be totally vacated by the end of March 2005.

The re-organisation is now expected to result in a total of some 310
redundancies across the Tobacco Machinery division, compared with the earlier
plan of around 250.  It is expected that 250 people will have left the division
by the end of this month, with most of the remainder leaving by February 2005.
Total exceptional costs in relation to rationalisation and redundancy for the
year are now estimated at £5.5m, before tax credits. The annual saving in costs
following the re-organisation is now estimated at £7m a year compared with the
previous estimate of £5m.

As announced in July, the development of Sasib's Fenix packing line has been
suspended.  The related costs incurred in the first half of 2004 amounted to
£1.9m.  A final charge of approximately £0.9m will be reported in the second
half of this year, reflecting costs of the withdrawal of this product.


Trading Update

Orders for both new and rebuilt equipment within Molins Tobacco Machinery remain
at a lower level than in the comparable period last year but are in line with
expectations at the time of the interim announcement.

Trading within the scientific services businesses has, as expected, improved
compared with the first half of the year.

The improvement in performance within the Packaging Machinery division delivered
in the first half of 2004 is being sustained in the second half of the year,
notwithstanding a further weakening of the US dollar.

Overall, the Company expects to report an underlying operating profit, before
goodwill and exceptional items, for the year as a whole.



Enquiries:     Molins PLC
               David Cowen, Group Finance Director             Tel: [phone]


Issued by:     Citigate Dewe Rogerson                         Tel: [phone]
               Margaret George



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