TDG Prelims: Full Year 2003

25 February 2004

TDG plc

PRELIMINARY RESULTS 2003

Resilient Performance in Tough Markets

Highlights

* Headline profit before tax maintained at £22.6 million

* Headline earnings per share up 3.5% to 20.8p

* Total dividend per share increased by 10.7% to 14.0p

* Business wins in line with prior year, with a strong start to 2004

* Withdrawal from France substantially complete

* Prompt action taken during the year to reduce costs in response to
difficult operating conditions

* Exceptional charges, as previously announced, of £16.0 million for France
disposal and closure costs, and £4.5 million for cost reduction actions.
Profit on ordinary activities before tax of £0.2 million (2002 : £22.4
million). Loss per share 5.4p (2002 : earnings 21.5p)

* Cash inflow before acquisitions and dividends of £28.3 million

* Net debt further reduced to £26.4 million, with gearing at 16%

A table analysing the Group results is included in the Operating Review.

David Garman, Chief Executive of TDG, commented:

‘TDG put in a resilient performance in 2003, in the face of very challenging
trading conditions across the industry. Headline profit before tax was
maintained at £22.6m and headline earnings per share were up 3.5% to 20.8p.

We have made an encouraging start to 2004, with new business wins already close
to half the level achieved for the whole of 2003. The costs associated with
this higher level of business wins will mainly be borne in the first half of
2004. We currently expect trading for 2004 as a whole to be at similar levels
to 2003, with a stronger second half leading into more marked progress in 2005
and beyond.’

Enquiries:

TDG Financial Dynamics
David Garman, Chief Executive Ben Foster/Andrew Dowler
Paul Mainwaring, Finance Director
Tel: 020 7222 7411 Tel: 020 7831 3113

CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT

TDG put in a resilient performance in 2003, in the face of very challenging
trading conditions across the industry. Headline profit before tax was
maintained at £22.6m and headline earnings per share were up 3.5% to 20.8p.
Turnover is down 5% to £541m mainly due to our withdrawal from direct
operations in France.

We achieved the same level of new business wins, despite new business
opportunities in our chosen sectors continuing to run at a low level throughout
2003. We also achieved a high level of renewals of existing business. The
withdrawal from our direct operations in France is substantially complete. We
took prompt action during 2003 to reduce costs in response to the difficult
operating conditions and lower customer volumes. We delivered another strong
cash inflow and our gearing is down to 16%.

In the first half we took steps to reduce the overhead cost base in the UK and
to exit from some low value added activities in Ireland. In the second half we
took action to reduce the cost base in the Netherlands in reaction to lower
levels of activity. The costs of these actions, which together total £4.5m,
have been charged as exceptional operating costs. These projects have an
average pay back period of around one year.

Our strategic review of the Group’s loss making operations in France concluded
that it would be very difficult to achieve profitable scale in this market, and
that our unsatisfactory position would be likely to deteriorate. We have
therefore taken decisive action to withdraw from direct operations in France.
The cost of this action, at £16m, is in line with the estimate made at the
interim stage, and ha