Cookson Group announce board changes

Nick Salmon appointed as Group Chief Executive

Cookson Group plc, the leading international materials technology company, announces the appointment of Mr. Nick Salmon as Group Chief Executive, with effect from 19 July 2004.

Mr. Salmon, 52, has extensive corporate and commercial experience, having held leadership positions within major international organisations over many years. He has spent a major part of his career at Alstom SA, the global energy and transport infrastructure group, and at Babcock International plc, the engineering services group, where he was Chief Executive from 1993 to 1997.

Most recently, from 2001 until March of this year he was Executive Vice President of Alstom SA which at its peak had revenues of €23bn and employed 118,000 people in over 70 countries. As a member of the three-person Executive Central Management team alongside the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, his responsibilities included strategy, mergers and acquisitions, communications and the worldwide marketing and sales network.

From 1997 to 2001 Mr. Salmon was Executive Vice President of ABB Alstom Power, a €10bn revenue business with 55,000 employees, and President of Alstom’s Energy Sector, a €4bn revenue business with 25,000 employees.

During his tenure as Chief Executive of Babcock International plc from 1993 to 1997, he led a major restructuring exercise, resulting in the repositioning of Babcock as a focused support services company. He was responsible for the sale of Babcock Energy to Mitsui Corporation and for the acquisitions of the Rosyth Royal Dockyards and the British Rail maintenance businesses.

Prior to joining Babcock, he held senior management positions at GEC and GEC Alsthom in the UK and France, and previously spent eleven years with China Light & Power Co. Ltd in Hong Kong.

A summary of Mr. Salmon’s career history is set out in the Notes to Editors.

On 5 May 2004, Cookson announced that Stephen Howard intended to relinquish the role of Group Chief Executive, after the identification and appointment of a successor. Mr. Howard will step down as Chief Executive on 19 July, and will continue as an executive Director to assist with the transition of responsibilities. He will leave the company at the end of the year.

Bob Beeston, Chairman of Cookson, said:

“Nick Salmon brings all the attributes that we are seeking for the role of Chief Executive, and we are delighted to welcome him to Cookson. He has very extensive international experience at a corporate and strategic level, as well as on the operational front. He has good first hand experience of the Asia-Pacific region, our most important growth market, and he has established a reputation as an excellent leader of people.

“After three years of very difficult trading, Cookson is now clearly and firmly on the recovery path, and we are delighted that Nick will be leading the company in the next stage of its development.

“For the fact that Cookson is now in excellent competitive shape, Stephen Howard must take considerable credit. We are very grateful to him for his significant contribution to Cookson over many years, seven of them as Group Chief Executive. On behalf of the Board, I wish him well in the future.”

Jan Pieter Oosterveld appointed as Non-executive Director

Cookson Group plc also announces the appointment of Mr. Jan Pieter Oosterveld as a Non-executive Director, with immediate effect.

Mr. Oosterveld spent his career at Royal Philips Electronics, one of the world’s largest electronics companies. Until his retirement in March of this year, he was a member of the Group Management Committee with responsibility for corporate strategy, corporate alliances, CEO of Philips Asia Pacific, Chairman of the Board of Directors of LG.Philips LCD Seoul, South Korea and Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of LG.Philips Displays NV, Hong Kong.

Prior to that, he held a series of senior operational management roles, latterly as one of the Managing Directors of the Components Division and General Manager of the ‘Key Modules’ Business Group. He also held responsibility for manufacturing and research and development in the Video Recorders Business Group of the Consumer Electronics Division.

Mr. Oosterveld is a non-executive Director of Continental AG, the German automotive systems and components supplier, Crucell N.V., the Dutch biotechnology company, Barco N.V., the Belgian display systems company and Atos Origin S.A., the French-based IT services provider.

Bob Beeston, Chairman of Cookson, said:

“Jan Oosterveld is an immensely experienced executive who has held a number of senior roles within one of the world’s largest electronics multinational groups.

“He has extensive experience in Asia which will be of particular benefit to Cookson. In his last role as head of Corporate Strategy he was the architect of the refocusing and revitalisation of Philips and this, together with his previous responsibility for research and development, means that he will bring an excellent set of strategic skills to the Board.

“I am delighted that he has agreed to join the Board.”