Final Results

Thorpe(F.W.) PLC
27 September 2000


The following consolidated results for the year ended 30 June 2000 were
announced today:

Abridged financial information
  
                                                         2000    1999
                                                        £'000   £'000

Turnover-continuing operations                          27173   25410         


Operating profit - continuing operations                 2702    2510
Profit on sale of fixed asset investments                   -     397
Interest receivable and similar income                    315     481

Profit on ordinary activities before taxation            3017    3388
Taxation on profit on ordinary activities                1004    1036

Profit on ordinary activities after taxation             2013    2352

Dividends                     - interim paid              180     196
                              - special paid                -    1304
                              - final proposed            502     488
                              - total                     682    1988

Retained profit                                          1331     364

Earnings per share:                                      16.0p   18.1p

Dividends per share           - interim                  1.50p   1.50p
                              - special                      -  10.00p
                              - final                    4.20p   3.75p
                              - total distribution       5.70p  15.25p

AGM                     02-Nov-2000
Dividend payment date   09-Nov-2000
Ex-dividend date        09-Oct-2000
Record date             13-Oct-2000

The above financial information does not constitute statutory accounts within
the meaning of Section 240(5) of the Companies Act 1985.  The statutory
accounts have not been delivered to the Registrar of Companies but will be
delivered in due course.                                                      
                                                                       
The Auditors have given an unqualified report on the statutory accounts and
their report does not contain a statement under either section 237 (2)
(Accounting records) or 237 (3) (Information and Explanations) of the 
Companies Act 1985.                                                           

                                             
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

The Group turnover for the year under review was £27.2M as compared to £25.4M
last year, an increase of 7%. This increase arose mainly from the inclusion of
a full year's trading of Sugg Lighting, which was acquired in March 1999. The
operating profit increased to £2.70M compared to last year's figure of £2.51M,
an increase of 8% achieved mainly by careful cost control and production
efficiencies. Because of a fall in our investment income and because last
year's result benefited from the exceptional profit from the sale of various
Stock Exchange investments the profit before tax (£3.02M) has shown a
reduction of 9.5% compared with the previous year. 
The Board is recommending a final dividend of 4.2p per share which when
included with the paid interim dividend makes a total for the year of 5.7p. 
In the Interim Statement I referred to the Company's purchase of 1,040,500 of
its own shares at a price of 115p.  The increase in final dividend reflects
the benefit to shareholders of this transaction. 

In a continuing difficult market the Group has improved it's trading
performance over the year but we have some way to go yet before we exceed any
previous records.

Strong competition in the market place is still resulting in low margins and
the high value of the pound makes the winning of export orders difficult.

We have over the year made significant investments in new products as well as
some additional plant and machinery.  In spite of this and the Company's
purchase of its own shares our cash position remains very healthy.

The Group has suffered no adverse effects from the Year 2000 issue in respect
of its own IT systems or those of its suppliers or customers.


Thorlux Lighting


The input of orders this year has fluctuated month by month.  After a
promising start the Autumn became a quiet period but since the beginning of
the new calendar year we have seen a gradual pick up and at the time of
writing this report we are enjoying a considerable increase in the order book.

The time and money spent over the past few years in developing and tooling new
designs is now paying off.  Likewise our efforts to offer our customers a cost
effective technical solution rather than just the cheapest product is proving
successful.

The export market remains difficult due to the value of the pound but better
manufacturing methods result in lower costs which offset the situation to some
extent.  We won a significant order for a project in the Far East, which has
helped the year's figures.

The new computer system is now fully integrated and is working well.  Over the
next year further features will be brought into operation to maintain business
efficiency.


Mackwell Electronics


It has been another very successful year for Mackwell with record turnover and
profits. It continues to win new accounts both at home and now in the export
market.  Investment in new designs is very important to maintain its market
position and with the increasing amount of electronics used in the general
lighting market Mackwell is a very important member of the Group.

In order to provide more manufacturing space we are in the process of
negotiating for the purchase of an adjoining factory and offices.


Compact Lighting

In general the retail sector has not been a good market for lighting over the
past twelve months.  A number of our customers delayed or cancelled their
investment plans and therefore Compact did not perform as well as the previous
year.  Nevertheless we have been developing new products and reassessing our
approach to the market.  

Further investment is being made in the manufacturing side and a new factory
unit is at the moment under construction adjacent to the present one.  This
will give us the space to improve the facilities and add new processes.


Philip Payne

Philip Payne results show a significant increase over the previous year.  It
sells into a niche market and concentrates on developing technically advanced
quality products.  Despite the small size of Philip Payne its contribution to
the Group is important.

Philip Payne, like Compact Lighting and Mackwell, will need to move into
larger premises in the near future so that its growth is not restricted.


Sugg Lighting


The new Managing Director of Sugg took up his position in October 1999 and
since then has been implementing modern working practices both on the shop
floor and in the offices.  Whilst the financial performance over the past year
has not been good, we are confident that the steps that have been taken will
result in a much improved result next year.

In fact, over the past few months we have seen a significant upturn in orders
both from the UK and from Europe.




The Future


As I referred to above we have seen an improvement in our order position over
the past two or three months.  We hope it will continue.  The efforts we have
made in designing new products and introducing new systems is now beginning to
pay off.  Further investments will be made as and when required to maintain
the momentum.  The UK market remains very competitive but there are
encouraging signs that we are entering a period of significant Government
investment and we intend to share in it. 



At the end of June, I stepped down as Chief Executive but retained the
position of Chairman in a non-executive role.  Andrew Thorpe and Peter Mason
became the new Joint Chief Executives.



ENQUIRIES to the Chairman: Colin Brangwin, FW Thorpe plc, Redditch
                           Tel: [phone]