AGM Statement

Yule Catto & Co PLC
22 May 2003



                          YULE CATTO & COMPANY PLC


                          Chairman's AGM Statement



At today's Annual General Meeting of Yule Catto & Company PLC,  Anthony
Richmond-Watson, Chairman, made the following comments:





'Last year saw the continuation of difficult conditions for world economies,
which were further complicated by uncertainties over the war in Iraq.  As you
are aware, our company has seen significant strategic development in recent
years and the 30% rise in profit before tax in 2002, despite the economic
backdrop, justifies and demonstrates the benefit of the pursuit of these
changes.



'No company can achieve such results without the dedication and support of its
employees and management teams.  Yule Catto is no exception, and may I
therefore, on behalf of all shareholders, record our thanks for the considerable
effort and contribution made in 2002.



'Investment remains a priority for our group and the last twelve months have
seen the commissioning of our nitrile latex plant in Malaysia, expansion of
pharmaceutical production facilities in Spain and, more recently, the start up
of new emulsion capacity in Belgium.  This year will see further investment in
capacity expansion for generic pharmaceutical active production and a new state
of the art sulphur dioxide emission control unit in France.



'Whilst we continue to pursue an active investment programme in our
manufacturing facilities, the usual focus on cash management persists within all
our companies.  This again produced free cash flow up to expectations last year,
at close to £30 million, with this year offering the prospect of an even better
figure.



'Good progress has been achieved in matters relating to Health, Safety and the
Environment, with the key indicators showing positive improvement.  A new
Internet-based reporting system has been developed and implemented.  To deliver
even greater focus, the senior management incentive scheme has also been
adjusted to reflect achievement of improved performance in this important area.



'Before commenting in general on the current outlook for our company, I shall
say a few words on each of our three main operating areas.



Polymer Chemicals



'Firstly, Polymer Chemicals, which is the sector that has seen the most
important strategic change in recent times, with Yule Catto achieving global
operating freedom through the acquisition of full ownership of two major joint
ventures.



'The business in Europe has been functioning since 1st January 2002 under the
Synthomer banner and excellent progress has been made in extending the benefits
of the strength of our product portfolio to an ever-larger customer base.



'In Malaysia, nitrile latex production is increasing as customers complete the
approval of locally made product.  The rate of transfer has been slower than
anticipated and has placed pressure on our European facilities at a time when
new marketing initiatives are generating good levels of demand.  With major
customers now regularly taking product, the situation should be progressively
transformed in the second half of this year.



'The start of 2002 benefited from reasonably favourable raw material prices, but
as the year unfolded the situation surrounding the Iraq conflict reversed the
position with a consequent negative impact on operating margins.  Sales volumes,
however, remained strong with high operating capacities at all our manufacturing
units.



'The position in the first half of 2003 has seen little change, but an easing of
the rate of rise in the price of major monomers and a reduced oil price points
to the possibility of a better business climate in the months ahead.



Pharma and Fine Chemicals



'For the Pharma and Fine Chemical companies, the results are starting to reflect
the benefits of a sustained concentration on our generic portfolio, while at the
same time working to broaden the customer base for ethical and intermediate
products.



'Sales of omeprazole, the generic version of Losec, by our Uquifa subsidiary
grew significantly throughout last year as patents expired in Europe.  However,
the business received a substantial boost in the last quarter when one of our
customers, Schwarz Pharma, received a court ruling in the United States.  This
effectively gave them exclusivity to launch generic Losec in what is the largest
healthcare market in the world.  In anticipation of good sales to the USA, we
had already expanded our manufacturing facilities for omeprazole in Spain and as
the generic product has entered the market, we have seen substantial sales in
the early months of this year.



'Across our pharma business plant loadings are high, with increasing demand for
Ranitidine and a wide range of new contracts for our Mexican facility being of
particular note.



'The outlook for our activities in this sector remains positive in the coming
months, with the only major uncertainty being the timing and outcome of the
court appeal process regarding omeprazole in the United States.



Performance Chemicals



'The companies within our Performance Chemicals area faced several difficulties
last year, among these were the weakening of the US Dollar, a fire at one of our
ultramarine factories and a continued deterioration of the French economy.
Action has already been taken to increase prices and reduce costs as necessary.
Where market conditions are judged to have more fundamentally changed, plans are
being developed to restructure operations to achieve acceptable levels of
return.



Outlook



'For 2003 as a whole, we have seen a strong start from the Pharma and Fine
Chemicals businesses and some improvement in the Performance Chemicals
activities.  Only the water-based Polymer chemical companies have experienced
weaker performance, as already noted, owing to raw material costs: nevertheless,
volume and demand remain good.  Overall, the first half of the year will,
therefore, produce results substantially ahead of the same period last year.



'For the remainder of the year, we expect to see a world economy that is far
from robust and it is difficult to predict the impact of the fall in the value
of the US Dollar.  To that must be added an unclear outlook to the development
of the prices of our major raw materials.  Having said that, the benefits of the
strategic changes in recent years continue to accrue and, with the caveat of
uncertainty over the omeprazole appeals process in the USA, we should enjoy good
results from our Pharma activities.  Providing market conditions do not
materially alter, our company should enjoy a significant increase in profits to
new record levels in 2003.



'Looking beyond, we now have manufacturing assets in place as a platform to
deliver identified strategic opportunities for the benefit of shareholders and
provide a growing future for our group.'



22 May 2003



ENQUIRIES:


Yule Catto                                         Tel: [phone]
Alex Walker, Chief Executive
Sean Cummins, Finance Director

College Hill                                       Tel: [phone]
Gareth David
Crawford Burden




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