Interim Results

SIG PLC
31 August 2000


                                                    
             INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE SIX-MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2000


SIG plc, Europe's largest specialist distributor of insulation and related
products, today reports record interim results with sales and operating profit
ahead in all its main businesses.

*    Group sales increased 12% to £447m (1999: £399m)
*    Operating profits before amortisation of goodwill up 17% at £23.3m (1999:
     £19.8m)
*    Profit before tax was up by 15% to £21.6m (1999: £18.7m)
*    Earnings per share rose by 16% to 12.4p (1999: 10.7 p)
*    Interim dividend of 3.4p (1999: 3.1p) declared, an increase of 10%
*    Continued recovery in Germany
*    Market share gained in all principal markets
*    Five small bolt-on acquisitions made in the period

Barrie Cottingham, Chairman of SIG, commenting on the results and group
prospects, said: 'Our performance in the first half has demonstrated once
again our capacity to grow in challenging markets. Trading since June has been
encouraging and we are confident that the Group will continue to make progress
in the second half of 2000 and beyond.'

Enquiries:

Bill Forrester, Chief Executive, SIG plc                today 020 7251 3801
Frank Prust, Finance Director, SIG plc             thereafter 0114 285 6300

Rupert Younger/ Faeth Finnemore, Finsbury                     020 7251 3801




Chairman's Statement

Good progress has been made in the first half of 2000 and profits and earnings
have grown substantially.  Increased sales and operating margin improvements
have produced good organic growth in all our strategic businesses.  Continued
improvement in performance in Germany has been complemented by further
progress in the UK and France and, despite challenging conditions, we believe
that we have consolidated our position as leader in these markets.

Results and Dividends

*    Sales in the first half have increased by 12% to £447m (1999: £399m)
*    Operating profits before amortisation of goodwill for the period are 17%
     higher at £23.3m (1999: £19.8m) despite an adverse effect on currency
     translation of £0.4m
*    Earnings per share for the half year are 16% higher at 12.4p compared
     with 10.7p in 1999
*    The balance sheet remains sound with gearing at 49% compared with 42% at
     December 1999 and interest cover at more than 20 times.

An interim dividend of 3.4p (1999: 3.1p) has been declared, an increase of
10%, reflecting the Group's strong performance and the Board's confidence in
the future.  The dividend is payable on 17 November 2000 to shareholders on
the register at 27 October 2000.


UK

Sales increased in all our UK distribution activities and, in a market which
grew only very modestly, we believe that we have strengthened our position in
our main sectors.  Operating profit increased by 17%, gross margins were
maintained and operating profit margins improved.

In insulation and related products, markets remained subdued and volume growth
was offset by product price deflation, albeit at a slower rate than last year.
Against this background, Sheffield Insulations and Warren Insulation performed
well, producing good growth in sales and profits.   We are also pleased to
report that Kitsons Insulation Products, acquired in 1998, improved
substantially and made a satisfactory contribution to profits.

In a branch network which remained unchanged, we made further investment in
increased sales resources and improved our logistics capabilities, maintaining
our leadership in customer service.  New product initiatives in specialist
applications made a useful contribution to sales growth.

The roofing division grew strongly, increasing market share and improving
operating margins.  The branch network now numbers sixty-seven, giving
increased UK coverage.  The two small in-fill acquisitions made in 1999 are
now fully integrated and contributed to profits.

Our ceilings and partitioning businesses all produced improved performance in
the period.  The suspended ceilings market continued to suffer price
deflation, although at a slower rate than prior year.  Despite this, CP
Supplies and Ceilings Distribution increased both sales and profits,
benefiting from investment in marketing and sales resources and new locations
in Birmingham and Dublin.  New administration and computing systems have been
introduced to improve internal efficiencies.

The demand for new and up-graded office interiors has enabled Komfort Systems,
our specialist partitioning business, to produce an excellent performance.
Sales growth in higher specification products and greater penetration of the
upper quartile of the market has led to a substantial improvement in profits.
We believe that we have continued to gain market share, as a result of
increased expenditure in specification sales and design and marketing.

Strong sales growth in hand, body and respiratory protection products produced
good profit growth in Safety Distribution, our specialist distributor of
personal protective equipment.


Europe

In Germany, the market for construction materials, including our main product
sectors, has remained weak.   Conditions in the west have been modestly
positive but in the east demand has, once again, fallen significantly.  We
believe that, overall, our markets declined by approximately 2% by value. We
are pleased, therefore, to report that our businesses, WKT and Golinski, have
continued the recovery of last year and produced substantial growth in
operating profits. In local currency, sales have grown and margins have
improved, reflecting the success of management action on efficiency and
productivity.  Good progress has been made in the development of our position
in the ceilings and partitioning sector and we believe our industrial
insulation and dry lining divisions have gained share and out-performed the
market.

In France, sales improved significantly in local currency and excellent
progress has been made developing our ceilings and partitioning activity.
However, operating profits have been affected by increased investment in IT
and the initial cost of opening new locations and facilities in Paris,
Orleans, Nantes and Dijon.  The number of ceilings and partitioning branches
in France has now increased to twelve.  In insulation markets, where demand
was flat and pricing modestly deflationary, Ouest Isol increased sales and
consolidated further its market leadership.

We continued to invest in our growing distribution business in Poland and the
branch network has increased to twelve, extending our geographical coverage
and offering a full range of insulation, dry lining and suspended ceiling
products.  We have seen a positive contribution for the first time despite the
costs incurred in opening new branches.


Rest of the World

Operating profits in the USA are slightly ahead of the prior year, despite
highly competitive markets and continuing weak demand in the core petro-
chemical sector.  In these difficult trading conditions, Distribution
International and Branton Industries have increased sales and strengthened
their market position. BWI, our east coast based insulation and safety product
distributor, has made a sound contribution.


Acquisitions

Five small in-fill acquisitions were made during the period.  The two
principal being Formerton and Nouwens.  We continued our development in the UK
roofing materials distribution sector through the purchase of Formerton in
March and in April we made a strategic move into the Dutch market by acquiring
Nouwens, a specialist ceilings and partitioning company. These businesses have
strengthened our position in key market sectors and all have traded profitably
in the first half.


e-Commerce

We continue to develop our e-commerce capability.  Our main business units
have fully descriptive product and service internet sites and, by the end of
2000, we will have added further fully interactive sites to the
protecdirect.co.uk site which is already operating.


Prospects

We do not anticipate significant changes in demand or product pricing across
our main markets in the second half of the year.  In the UK, volume is likely
to show modest improvement and prices will remain broadly static.  In Germany,
the east will continue to be difficult and we expect conditions in our market
sectors in the west to be positive in terms of demand and price stability.
Construction activity in France will continue the growth trend of the first
half of the year but the industrial sector will remain relatively weak.  In
the USA, we do not expect any change in the level of demand in our core
industrial and petro-chemical markets.

Our performance in the first half has demonstrated once again our capacity to
grow organically in challenging markets.  We have enhanced further our
customer service and sales capability in several of our key activities through
investment in resources and infra-structure.  We are in an excellent position
to exploit opportunities and to continue to grow and develop our strengths.

Trading since June has been encouraging and we are confident that the Group
will continue to make progress in the second half of 2000 and beyond.




Summary Consolidated Profit and Loss Account

for the six months ended 30 June 2000

                            Unaudited         Unaudited        Audited
                            Six months       Six months          Year
                              ended             ended           ended
                             30 June           30 June          31 Dec
                   Note    2000     2000    1999     1999    1999     1999
                          £'000    £'000   £'000    £'000   £'000    £'000
                                                                          
Turnover              3          447,344          399,352          841,304
--------------------             -------          -------          -------  
Operating profit      3           22,675           19,647           44,207
Net interest payable               1,122              956            1,902
--------------------             -------          -------          -------    
Profit before                                                             
taxation and                                                     
amortisation of                                                  
goodwill                 22,141           18,862           42,854
Amortisation of                                                           
goodwill                    588              171              549
--------------------    -------          -------          -------  
Profit on ordinary                                                        
activities before                                                         
taxation                          21,553           18,691           42,305
Tax on profit on                                                          
ordinary activities                6,803            5,940           13,233
--------------------             -------          -------          -------
Profit on ordinary                                                        
activities after                                                          
taxation                          14,750           12,751           29,072
Minority interests                                                        
(all equity)                          38               62              185
Equity dividends                   3,996            3,689           11,020
--------------------             -------          -------          -------
Retained profit for                                                       
the year                          10,716            9,000           17,867
--------------------             -------          -------          -------
Earnings per share                                                        
Basic earnings per                                                        
share                 4            12.4p            10.7p            24.4p
Fully diluted                                                             
earnings per share    4            12.3p            10.7p            24.2p
--------------------             -------          -------          -------
Earnings per share                                                        
before goodwill
amortisation
Basic earnings per                                                        
share                 4            12.9p            10.9p            24.9p
Fully diluted                                                             
earnings per share    4            12.8p            10.8p            24.7p
--------------------             -------          -------          -------


Consolidated Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses

for the six months ended 30 June 2000
                                       Unaudited   Unaudited       Audited
                                      Six months  Six months          Year
                                           ended       ended         ended
                                         30 June     30 June        31 Dec
                                            2000        1999          1999
                                           £'000       £'000         £'000
Profit on ordinary activities after                                      
taxation and minority interests           14,712      12,689        28,887
                                                                         
Currency translation differences on                                      
foreign currency net investments            (486)     (1,432)       (2,840)
-----------------------------------      -------     -------       -------
Total recognised gains and losses                                        
for the period                            14,226      11,257        26,047
                                                                         
Prior year adjustment                          -      (2,818)       (2,716)
-----------------------------------      -------     -------       -------
Total gains and losses recognised                                        
since last annual report                  14,226       8,439        23,331
-----------------------------------      -------     -------       -------


Summary Consolidated Balance Sheet

as at 30 June 2000
                                       Unaudited  Unaudited       Audited
                                         30 June    30 June        31 Dec
                                            2000       1999          1999
                                           £'000      £'000         £'000
Fixed assets                                                 
Intangible assets                         24,288      7,343        16,035
Tangible assets                           56,725     49,685        49,946
-----------------------------------      -------    -------       -------
                                          81,013     57,028        65,981
-----------------------------------      -------    -------       -------
Current assets                                               
Stocks                                    69,710     63,925        61,663
Debtors                                  188,870    170,999       155,015
Cash at bank                               5,605      3,816         4,538
-----------------------------------      -------    -------       -------     
                                         264,185    238,740       221,216
                                                             
Creditors due within one year           (184,094)  (167,529)     (138,448)
-----------------------------------      -------    -------       -------
Net current assets                        80,091     71,211        82,768
-----------------------------------      -------    -------       -------
Total assets less current                                    
liabilities                              161,104    128,239       148,749

Creditors due after one year             (24,737)    (9,337)      (22,688)
Provision for liabilities and                                
charges                                   (3,632)    (4,153)       (3,602)
-----------------------------------      -------    -------       -------
Net assets                               132,735    114,749       122,459
-----------------------------------      -------    -------       -------
                                                             
Capital and reserves (all equity)        132,735    114,749       122,459
-----------------------------------      -------    -------       -------


Summary Consolidated Cash Flow Statement

for the six months ended 30 June 2000
                                        Unaudited  Unaudited    Audited
                                          30 June    30 June     31 Dec
                                             2000       1999       1999
                                  Note      £'000      £'000      £'000
                                                              
Net cash inflow from operating                                
activities                         5       22,481     33,190     55,944
------------------------------            -------    -------    -------
Returns on investments and                                    
servicing of finance                       (1,122)      (956)    (1,902)
------------------------------            -------    -------    -------
Taxation                                   (3,562)    (2,469)   (15,801)
------------------------------            -------    -------    -------
Capital expenditure                        (8,819)    (6,700)   (13,081)
------------------------------            -------    -------    -------
Acquisitions                              (13,896)    (5,932)   (17,127)
------------------------------            -------    -------    -------
Equity dividends paid                      (7,306)    (6,641)   (10,306)
------------------------------            -------    -------    -------
Financing                                   1,026     (1,147)    11,878
------------------------------            -------    -------    -------
(Decrease)/increase in cash in                                
the period                         6      (11,198)     9,345      9,605
------------------------------            -------    -------    -------


Notes to the Unaudited Interim Results

1. Basis of Preparation of Interim Financial Information
   The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies
   included in the Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 1999, which
   have been applied consistently throughout the current and preceding
   periods.

2. Publication of Non Statutory Accounts
   The financial information included in this interim statement does not
   constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of Section 240 of the
   Companies Act 1985.  The interim results to 30 June 2000 and 1999 are
   unaudited.  The financial information for the full preceding year is based
   on the statutory accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 1999.
   Those accounts, upon which the auditors issued an unqualified opinion,
   have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies.

3. Segmental Information

                                  Unaudited    Unaudited      Audited
                                 Six months   Six months         Year
                                      ended        ended        ended
                                    30 June      30 June       31 Dec
  Geographical analysis                2000         1999         1999
                                      £'000        £'000        £'000
  Turnover                                               
  - UK                              271,790      238,620      495,849
  - Europe                          141,226      138,461      294,608
  - Rest of world                    34,328       22,271       50,847
                                    -------      -------      -------
  Total operations                  447,344      399,352      841,304
                                    -------      -------      -------

  Operating profit                                       
  - UK                               19,410       16,640       36,168
  - Europe                            4,221        3,636       10,388
  - Rest of world                       924          820          801
  - Parent Company                   (1,292)      (1,278)      (2,601)
  - Amortisation of goodwill           (588)        (171)        (549)
                                    -------      -------      -------
  Total operations                   22,675       19,647       44,207
                                    -------      -------      -------

 Turnover and operating profit by destination is not materially different
 from these amounts.  Turnover and operating profit from acquisitions during
 the period have not been reported separately due to their immateriality to
 the Group results.  The reporting of the activities of the Group was
 restructured during the second half of 1999, with results being reported on
 a geographic basis.  Prior year segment information has therefore been
 restated in this format.


4.    Earnings per Share

 The calculations of earnings per share are based on the following profits
 and numbers of shares:
                                                Basic and diluted before
                          Basic and diluted      goodwill amortisation
                          Unaudited     Audited      Unaudited     Audited
                         Six months  Year ended     Six months  Year ended
                        ended 30 June    31 Dec    ended 30 June    31 Dec
                          2000    1999     1999     2000     1999     1999
                         £'000   £'000    £'000    £'000    £'000    £'000
                                                                
  Profit after tax      14,750  12,751   29,072   14,750  12,751    29,072
  Minority interests       (38)    (62)    (185)     (38)    (62)     (185)
  Goodwill amortisation      -       -        -      588     171       549
                        ------  ------   ------   ------  ------    ------
                        14,712  12,689   28,887   15,300  12,860    29,436
                        ------  ------   ------   ------  ------    ------

  Weighted average number of shares:
                                              Unaudited          Audited
                                              Six months      Year ended
                                            ended 30 June         31 Dec
                                          2000         1999         1999
                                        Number       Number       Number
                                                            
  For basic earnings per share     118,218,818  118,162,078  118,178,515
  Exercise of share options          1,426,025      716,063      992,869
                                   -----------  -----------  -----------
  For diluted earnings per share   119,644,843  118,878,141  119,171,384
                                   -----------  -----------  -----------

5.   Reconciliation of Operating Profit to Net Cash Flow from Operating
     Activities

                                    Unaudited     Unaudited      Audited
                                   Six months    Six months         Year
                                        ended         ended        ended
                                      30 June       30 June       31 Dec
                                         2000          1999         1999
                                        £'000         £'000        £'000
                                                            
  Operating profit                     22,675        19,647       44,207
  Depreciation and amortisation         6,229         5,585       12,154
  Profit on sale of tangible                                
  fixed assets                            (45)         (207)        (364)
  Changes in working capital           (6,378)        8,165          (53)
                                      --------      -------      -------
  Net cash flow from operating                                  
  activities                            22,481       33,190       55,944
                                      --------      -------      -------


Notes to the Unaudited Interim Results

6.    Reconciliation of Net Cash Flow to Movement in Net Debt

                                             Unaudited           Audited
                                             Six months       Year ended
                                            ended 30 June         31 Dec
                                         2000          1999         1999
                                        £'000         £'000        £'000
                                                            
  (Decrease)/increase in cash in                            
  the period                          (11,198)        9,345        9,605
  Cash (inflow)/outflow from                                
  (increase)/decrease in debt            (981)        1,197      (11,801)
                                      -------       -------      -------
  Changes in net debt resulting                                         
  from cash flows                     (12,179)       10,542       (2,196)
  Acquisitions                           (879)            -         (187)
  Exchange differences                 (1,046)        2,675        4,633
                                      -------       -------      -------
  Movement in net debt in the                               
  period                              (14,104)       13,217        2,250
  Net debt at start of period         (51,326)      (53,576)     (53,576)
                                      -------       -------      -------
  Net debt at end of period           (65,430)      (40,359)     (51,326)
                                      -------       -------      -------