Final Results

Camellia PLC
26 April 2001

Preliminary Announcement - Year Ended 31st December 2000
Consolidated Profit and Loss Account
for the year ended 31st December 2000
                                                         2000              1999
                                                        £'000             £'000
Turnover - continuing operations                      253,375           233,689
Cost of sales                                         202,036           180,923
Gross profit                                           51,339            52,766
Net operating expenses                                 34,372            35,944
Operating profit - continuing operations               16,967            16,822
Share of results of associates                          2,996             2,106
                                                       19,963            18,928
Investment income                                       1,087               837
Profit on disposal of fixed assets                      1,164                 -
Loss on disposal of associated undertaking            (1,701)                 -
Profit on disposal of fixed asset                         376                66
investments
Profit on disposal of subsidiary                            -               268
undertaking
Group restructuring costs                                   -             (889)
                                                       20,889            19,210
Net interest payable and similar charges                5,675             5,940
Profit on ordinary activities before                   15,214            13,270
taxation
Taxation on profit on ordinary activities               5,722             4,636
Profit on ordinary activities after                     9,492             8,634
taxation
Interest of minority shareholders                       2,538             2,924
Profit for the year                                     6,954             5,710
Dividends                                               2,335             2,266
Retained profit for the year                            4,619             3,444
Earnings per share                                    247.71p           201.33p


Consolidated Balance Sheet
as at 31st December 2000
                                              2000              1999
                                               £'000    £'000    £'000    £'000
Fixed assets
Tangible assets                                       168,835           166,777
Goodwill                                              (1,239)           (1,174)
Investments                                            64,053            65,656
                                                      231,649           231,259
Current assets
Stocks                                        32,319            32,052
Debtors                                       66,244            60,975
Investments                                       47               122
Cash at banks and in hand                    162,052           140,900
                                             260,662           234,049
Creditors: amounts falling due within one    222,444           200,505
year

Net current assets                                     38,218            33,544
Total assets less current liabilities                 269,867           264,803

Creditors: amounts falling due after more
than one year                                          36,513            39,733

Provision for liabilities and charges                   1,734             1,468
Net assets                                            231,620           223,602

Capital and reserves
Called up share capital                                   277               283
Share premium account                                     423               423
Revaluation reserve                                    38,901            38,741
Profit and loss account                               137,248           130,543
Merger reserve                                            242               242
Equity shareholders' funds                            177,091           170,232
Minority shareholders' interest                        54,529            53,370
                                                      231,620           223,602

Consolidated Cash Flow Statement
for the year ended 31st December 2000
                                              2000              1999
                                               £'000    £'000    £'000    £'000
Net cash flow from operating activities                22,346            28,216

Group restructuring costs                                   -             (889)

Dividends received from associates                        869               846

Returns on investments and servicing of
finance
Interest received                                828               604
Interest paid                                (6,028)           (6,123)
Income from investments                        1,039               803
Dividends paid to minority interests         (2,043)           (2,295)
                                                      (6,204)           (7,011)
Taxation
UK corporation tax paid                        (274)              (43)
Overseas tax paid                            (4,636)           (5,662)
                                                      (4,910)           (5,705)
Capital expenditure and financial
investment
Purchase of tangible fixed assets            (11,813)           (13,069)
Sale of tangible fixed assets                  3,790               725
Purchase of investments                      (2,374)           (3,049)
Sale of investments                            1,078               866
                                                      (9,319)           (14,527)
Acquisitions and disposals
Disposal of shares in subsidiaries                 -               729
Purchase of additional Siegfried AG shares     (705)             (675)
Purchase of minority interests                 (473)           (1,584)
Disposal of associated undertaking             6,227                 -
                                                        5,049           (1,530)

Equity dividends paid                                 (2,237)           (1,198)
Cash inflow/(outflow) before financing                  5,594           (1,798)

Financing
Loan repayments                              (7,109)           (6,139)
New loans                                      5,081             8,607
Capital element of finance lease rental        (312)             (478)
payments
                                                      (2,340)             1,990
Purchase of own shares                                (1,244)             (143)
Increase in cash in the period                          2,010                49


Reconciliation of Movement in Shareholders' Funds
for the year ended 31st December 2000
                                                         2000              1999
                                                        £'000             £'000
Profit for the year                                     6,954             5,710
Dividends                                             (2,335)           (2,266)
Retained profit for the year                            4,619             3,444
Currency translation differences on foreign currency
net investments                                         3,791           (4,102)
Purchase of own shares                                (1,551)             (143)
Surplus on revaluation of tangible fixed                    -             2,560
assets
Net addition in shareholders' funds                     6,859             1,759
Opening shareholders' funds                           170,232           168,473
Closing shareholders' funds                           177,091           170,232


Analysis of turnover, profit and net
operating assets
                                                                 Net operating
                                    Turnover        Operating        assets
                                                      profit
                                 2000     1999    2000    1999     2000     1999
                                £'000    £'000   £'000   £'000    £'000    £'000
By activity
Parent and subsidiary
undertakings
Agriculture and horticulture  101,654   97,114  10,377  13,691  135,954  131,245
Trading and agency             86,053   74,848     810     417    5,956    6,298
Food storage and distribution  46,723   44,907   4,513   4,563   31,930   33,003
Engineering                    12,175   12,574   1,095     824   11,696   10,289
Fine art trading and philately  4,784    2,506   2,299     635    3,017    4,000
Property leasing                1,959    1,714   1,869   1,639    3,750    3,412
Central management and             27       26  (5,032) (5,324)   8,699    8,172
miscellaneous
                              253,375  233,689  15,931  16,445  201,002  196,419
Banking                                          1,026     406   20,971   20,849
Net interest from group companies                   10     (29)       -        -
                                                16,967  16,822  221,973  217,268
Associated undertakings
Agriculture and horticulture                        13      36
Textile and other                                   93    (750)
manufacturing
Insurance and leasing                              987     858
Chemical and pharmaceutical                      1,903   1,962
Operating profit                                19,963  18,928





2000 Results

Climatically, the year 2000 was relatively favourable for most of the Group's
agricultural and horticultural interests, almost all of which recorded
increased production. The major exceptions were our Nandi Hills tea estates in
Kenya and our farm in Brazil, both of which suffered from the effects of
severe frost and prolonged drought. Undermining profitability were
disappointingly low tea prices, particularly for North India and Bangladesh
teas, and a very depressed international coffee market. Nevertheless, our
Malawi and Kenya tea companies succeeded in increasing their profits compared
with 1999, and notably higher contributions to the Group's results were made
by Duncan Lawrie Limited, Lumley Cazalet Limited and Horizon Farms in
California. Linton Park's subsidiaries in the United Kingdom also improved
their results.


                                United Kingdom


Duncan Lawrie Limited


The year 2000 was successful for Duncan Lawrie with pre-tax profit more than
doubling to £1,025,915. All divisions did well, but the major contributor to
these improved results was the Duncan Lawrie Smaller Companies Fund unit
trust, which achieved a leading position in the performance tables.


In the course of the year it was decided to close the bank's operations in
Cyprus, transferring the business to Duncan Lawrie in the Isle of Man. Various
other structural changes were made during the year as part of an on-going
rationalisation policy, and further investment has been committed to new staff
and improved IT systems. Prospects for the new personal financial planning
service established last year are looking promising, and a Self Invested
Personal Pension (SIPP) product has been successfully reintroduced to fill a
gap created by the disposal of Duncan Lawrie Pension Consultants Limited in
1998.


Management's principal focus is upon improving the range and quality of the
bank's services, thereby enhancing its profitability and potential for the
future.


W.D.G. Properties Limited


Profits increased by some £260,000 as a result of rent reviews and increased
occupancy. Further rent reviews are due during 2001 as a result of which we
expect to see another increase in profits in the current year.


Fine Art Trading


Lumley Cazalet Limited continued throughout the year to benefit from a buoyant
art market, and with management's considerable expertise created record sales
and profits. Since last December, however, there has been a softening of
demand, and it is considered unlikely that last year's excellent performance
will be matched in the current year.


Selective disposal of JPL Fine Arts Limited's slow moving inventory has
continued, but further provision has been made in the accounts against the
carrying value of that inventory.


British Mohair Holdings Plc


As reported at the time, the Group's shareholding was sold on 26th September
2000 for £6.44 million.


                                    India

India's total tea production in the year 2000 was reported to be 4.7% up on
1999 at 823 million kgs. The Group's estates in North India produced 24
million kgs, a 5.1% increase over 1999, but profitability was adversely
affected by an unexpectedly pronounced and prolonged weakness in the tea
market from mid-season onwards. The supply:demand equation remains the basic
determinant of price, but unpredictable swings in tea prices can also occur in
the course of a season for other reasons. This was the case in India last
year, reducing the combined pre-tax profit of our tea companies to £1.26
million, compared with £5.27 million in the previous year.


To stimulate interest in our instant tea and certain speciality Darjeeling
grades, a warehousing facility has been established in New Jersey, USA, which
it is hoped will more effectively introduce our instant product into the very
competitive North American market.


The law and order situation in Assam remains unsettled, and regrettably
similar problems were encountered during the year in North Bengal.

The provision of welfare facilities for employees on our estates continues to
be a priority.


                                  Bangladesh


Recovering from the previous year's severe drought, the ten Longbourne tea
estates produced 10.6 million kgs, within 5% of their record crop of 1998.
Market prices, however, remained at similar levels to 1999, and after
absorbing higher interests costs, pre-tax profits declined to £129,000
compared with £271,000 in 1999.


The modernisation of Longbourne's tea factories is now complete, including
arrangements for standby power facilities. Rubber production is steadily
increasing, and last year amounted to 312 tonnes on a total area of 1,422
hectares. Pilot-scale silk farms have been established on three tea estates,
totalling about 20 hectares under mulberry trees, and initial results are
encouraging.


Although the tea warehouse in Chittagong operated profitably, Duncan Products
Limited had a disappointing year. The bottled water business experienced
fierce competition and sales of packet teas were depressed. However, it is
anticipated that on both counts the current year will show an improvement.


The upgrading of welfare standards on our tea estates continues to receive
priority, and the Camellia Duncan Foundation Hospital at Shumshernugger is
reputedly one of the best in the country and now has a specialised cancer
facility.


The United Leasing Company Limited had a good year, reporting a pre-tax profit
of £1.86 million compared with £1.59 million in 1999. The United Insurance
Company Limited also performed satisfactorily with pre-tax profits of £328,000
compared with £334,000 in 1999, and its subsidiary, the Surmah Valley Tea
Company Limited, which has three tea estates, made a profit of £49,000
compared with £60,000 in 1999.


                                    Nepal


Himalaya Goodricke Private Limited produced a marginally lower crop at 289,000
kgs, but because of the impact of generally lower prices in the neighbouring
Dooars, recorded a pre-tax loss of £46,000 compared with a pre-tax profit of £
53,000 in 1999. The packaging and marketing company, Gorkha Lawrie Private
Limited, also suffered from lower prices and increased interest charges.


Politically Nepal is going through a difficult period, with terrorist activity
occurring in many parts of the country.


                                    Brazil


In a determined effort to improve the commercial viability of the Group's
farm, which is situated near Itapeva in Sao Paulo State, the new management
successfully introduced a number of important operational and administrative
improvements, of which substantially increased productivity was the most
tangible and encouraging. It was therefore all the more disappointing for
everyone concerned that in the course of the year the farm experienced
unprecedented frosts and severe drought, followed by a steep decline in the
market price of maize. Mainly for these reasons a further loss was incurred by
E.P. Lawrie last year.


                                   Bermuda


The two investment holding companies in Bermuda increased their contribution
to Group profit during the year.


Prospects for 2001


The Group's agricultural operations have so far encountered no unusually
adverse weather conditions affecting their production, but on the other hand
there are no indications of any substantial improvement in tea or coffee
prices. Linton Park's subsidiaries operating in the U.K. have had a
satisfactory first quarter, and while Duncan Lawrie's quarterly results have
not been as good as those for the same period in 2000, they compare favourably
with previous years.


                               Linton Park Plc


The following is an extract from the preliminary announcement of Linton Park
Plc issued today.


'As mentioned in the interim report, our Kenya operations were adversely
affected by a very serious frost in the tea growing districts of Nandi Hills
at the end of January and then by drought, which reduced our production in the
first six months of the year by nearly 50%. It is encouraging to report
however that these tea operations responded well in the second half of the
year ultimately producing an acceptable profit. We also suffered from
continuing very low coffee prices, which declined in the latter part of the
year to well below cost of production and resulted in a loss in our partly
owned subsidiary company, Kakuzi Limited. Climatic conditions were, I am
pleased to say, much better in Malawi and our operations there produced a
worthwhile tea crop and good profits. Our other overseas agricultural
operations were relatively unscathed by adverse climatic conditions and
performed reasonably well, although the over supply of citrus in world markets
had a negative effect on our Australian operations.


In the UK it is pleasing to report that most of our engineering operations
continued to respond to increased order intakes, particularly from the North
Sea Oil sector. The rebuilding of the plating factory at Abbey Metal Finishing
has almost been completed following the disastrous fire in June 2000.
Associated Cold Stores benefited from the new facilities developed in recent
years and achieved reasonable profits in a difficult marketplace.


Siegfried, our associated pharmaceutical company based in Switzerland, has
continued to experience problems in America which, as anticipated in the
interim statement, have led to further substantial provisions being necessary.
The Swiss operations have themselves, however, continued to perform beyond
expectations and the prospects for this part of the business look to be very
encouraging.


We announced on 13 March 2001 that the group has entered into conditional
contracts with the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa whereby
we will acquire, subject to regulatory consents being obtained, a 70% interest
in the tea, macadamia, coffee and paprika operations of their wholly owned
subsidiary, Sapekoe (Pty) Limited in exchange for a 30% shareholding in EP
Malawi. This acquisition will increase our tea production in Africa by
approximately 8 million kilos a year and will lead to a significant increase
in our macadamia production. It is anticipated that completion of this
transaction will take place on 30 April 2001.


A diverse group such as ours is inevitably influenced by climatic conditions
and shareholders will be aware that such conditions are anything but stable
around the globe. However, without tempting providence, it is pleasing to
report that 2001 has started more benignly than 2000, although a prolonged
drought in the Western Cape Province of South Africa and storms at the time of
blossom in California do give a little cause for concern. Tea prices are
significantly lower than at this time last year, mainly as a result of high
production in Kenya.'




Notes


 1. The directors have decided to recommend a final dividend of 64p per
    ordinary share payable on 4th July 2001 to shareholders registered at the
    close of business on 8th June 2001.


    The total dividend for the year of 84p per ordinary share, compares with
    80p per ordinary share paid in the previous year.


 2. Earnings per share have been calculated by dividing profit after tax and
    minority interests of £6,954,000 (1999 - £5,710,000) by the weighted
    average number of shares in issue at 31st December 2000 of 2,807,325 (1999
    - 2,836,188).


 3. Taxation on profits on ordinary activities includes overseas taxation of £
    3.73 million (1999 - £5.06 million), U.K. corporation tax of £2.77 million
    (1999 - £3.15 million) and share of associated undertakings tax of £0.82
    million (1999 - credit £0.40 million).


 4. The annual General Meeting is to be held on Thursday, 31st May 2001.


 5. The above figures are an abridged statement from the Group's accounts for
    the year ended 31st December 2000. The audit report on these accounts was
    unqualified.


    The statutory accounts for the year ended 31st December 1999 have been
    delivered to the Registrar of Companies and those for the year ended 31st
    December 2000 will be delivered after the annual General Meeting.


 6. The Directors Report and Statement of Accounts will be posted to
    shareholders on 1st May 2001 on which date copies can be obtained from the
    company's Registrars:-



Capita IRG Plc,

Balfour House,

390/398 High Road,

Ilford,

Essex IG1 1NQ


     or from the company's registered office:-



Wrotham Place,

Wrotham,

Sevenoaks,

Kent TN15 7AE




Press enquiries to:


Mr. H.K. FitzGerald

Telephone No: 020 7245 0050




          P.E. Hill

                    Company Secretary