October 1999 Filtration Industry Analyst

The Weir Group plc, Whatman plc, UK UK

Key Figures (f million)’ Key Figures (f million) Interim results for 26 weeks ended Interim results for six months ended 30.6

2.7.1999 26.6.1998 1999 1998

Turnover 357.0 344.5 Turnover 50.7 47.4

Operating Profit 27.6 28.1

Profit on Ordinary Activities before Tax 27.8 37.4

Profit on Ordinary Activities after Tax 20.3 28.0

Profit Attributable to The Weir Group Plc

Earnings per Share

Diluted Earnings per Share

20.2 27.9

fO.10 f0.14

fO.10 f0.14

’ Except per share data.

The Weir Group plc’s tinan- and Services increased by cial results for the first half El.5 million compared with of 1999 were in line with 1998, but Associates and expectations and previous Joint Venture profit de- statements. Market condi- creased by f 1.1 million. tions were difficult, particu- Overall, order input larly for short lead-time busi- showed a satisfactory in- ness, and profit before tax crease in difficult market and goodwill amortization conditions. The total value of for the 26 week period ended orders booked in the first half 2 July 1999, amounted to of 1999 was &34X million f28.3 million, which was 4% compared with f3 16 million lower than 1998. during the first six months of

More demanding con- 1998. Among the notable tract conditions in railway successes was a f15 million maintenance, lower activity desalination plant order for in the oil-service industry Entropie, for a project in and lower interest rates are Bahrain. the main reasons behind the Apart from the agree- drop in profit. ment to acquire the Wartnan

Turnover from the Group, which enhances group’s Engineering Prod- Weir’s presence in the global ucts and Services operations pump market, Weir also totailed f 30 1.3 million, com- made a number of bolt-on pared with 2300.5 million, acquisitions during the first posted for the equivalent half of 1999. These included period of 1998, and its South African environmental share of Associates and engineering and separation Joint Venture turnover was technologies company Envig f55.7 million, as opposed to Holdings, which increases E48.9 million recorded a year Weir Westgarth’s industrial earlier. The profit generated water treatment product from Engineering Products range. m

Operating Profit

Profit on Ordinary Activities before Tax

Profit on Ordinary Activities after Tax

Profit Attributable to Shareholders 4.0 4.9

Retained Profit 2.4 3.4

Turnover by Business Segment Six months ended 30.6

1999 1998

Analvtical 28.9 25.7

Healthcare 9.2 8.8

Industrial 12.5 12.9

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Whatman plc’s sales for the lirst six months of 1999 rose by 7% from g47.4 million posted for the equivalent period of 1998, to 250.7 mil- lion. Pre-tax profits, exclud- ing adjustments for good- will, dropped by 16%, mainly through adverse movements in exchange rates and an acceleration in devel- opment expenditure.

Analytical sales rose by 12%. This was below expec- tations mainly because of the timing of orders for analyti- cal gas systems. Microfiltra- tion sales climbed 44%, led by exceptional performances from the company’s GDX syringe filter range and multi-well products, both of which benefited from prod- uct line extensions and improvements. Healthcare sales rose by 5%. Biometra grew strongly, driven by the

launch of a new thermo- cycler, but this was offset by the anticipated decline in sales of bio-chromatography products. Industrial sales ex- perienced a drop of 3%. The assimilation of Corning’s Separations Business has gone according to plan and it is already producing sales and operational benefits.

Comparing the first half of 1999 with the equivalent period of 1998, sales in North America grew by 9%, with particularly strong growth in microfiltration products. UK sales improved by only 2%, while those to Continental Europe declined, mainly because of a sluggish performance in Germany. In me Asia Pacific region and Japan, sales have already started to recover and increased 41% and 29% respectively. I