Summary		2000		1999		% Increase
Turnover		£1,427		£1,315		8.5
		million		million
Return on sales		16.1%		13.2%		-
Profit before tax		£224.1		£182.2		23.0
and exceptional items		million		million
Profit before tax		£225.6		£162.3		39.0
		million		million
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and		£313.5 million		£244.9 million		28.0
amortisation
Earnings per share before exceptional items		31.5p		23.9p		31.8
Final dividend per share		8.25p		7.6p		8.6

• Plasterboard sales volumes worldwide, on a like-for-like basis, grew 10%; up 19% including the acquired Scandinavian and Asian businesses. Plaster volumes grew nearly 8%
  
• Turnover grew 8.5% to £1.43 billion, up 13% in local currencies
  
• Operating profit advanced 32.5% to £230.4 million, with the group sales margin rising almost 3 percentage points to 16.1%
  
• Building materials turnover and operating profit rose by 11% and 28% to £1.32 billion and £210 million respectively, and Paperboard sales margin doubled to almost 11%
  
• Underlying pre-tax profit advanced 23% to £224.1 million and underlying earnings per share rose 32% to 31.5p
  
• Cash generation from operations continued to grow rapidly, with EBITDA increasing 28% to £313.5 million and EBITDA margin rising 3.4 percentage points to 22%
  
• A final dividend of 8.25p per share, generating an 8.2% increase in the full year dividend to 12.5p, 2.5 times covered by underlying earnings.

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