At the Annual General Meeting of the group today, the Chairman, Stuart Wallis, made the following statement to shareholders:-

"Following my statement on the announcement of the group's preliminary results on the 5th June, the Group's trading in the current year is in line with expectations. The largely new senior management team is coping well with the challenges facing the business, in particular the opportunity to invest and capitalise in the group's strong brands, Durex, Scholl and Regent.

In relation to the previously announced investigation into the overstatement of results in prior periods, this investigation is now virtually complete and a file has been passed to the Serious Fraud Office for review. Any further action in this matter will therefore be taken by the S.F.O.

Finally I am delighted to introduce Ian Martin who will take over from me as Chairman at the beginning of September. Ian has extensive experience working with high profile brands in a marketing environment and will be a welcome addition to the Board."

For further information:

SSL International plc
Stuart Wallis
Chairman
020 7426 4680

William Clutterbuck/Laura Frost
The Maitland Consultancy
020 7379 5151