Celsis International -- AGM Statement


SUFFOLK, United Kingdom, July 17, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Celsis (Other OTC:CEITF): at today's Annual General Meeting Dr Jack Rowell, Chairman, made the following statement: "In the report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2003, we announced a major turn around in the performance of the Company and reported a significant profits increase with solid sales growth. This was a successful year for Celsis and we now believe we are in a position to build upon this stable and sustainable business.

"Celsis' customer base continues to grow, and although we reduced our cost structure last year, this has not impacted on our ability to provide customers with superior products and services. We continue to lead our respective industries in technology innovation and customer care.

"Our Product Group continues to grow according to plan. The personal care and pharmaceutical business sector, which accelerated significantly last year, will continue to grow as we focus on our GCAM (Global Corporate Account Management) programme and value-selling approach. The dairy business will secure more business as we continue with our strategy of providing superior products at competitive prices.

"Our Laboratory Group reported increased revenues and profits for the year end 31 March 2003. Whilst our Laboratory Group has witnessed a slight slowdown in our pharmaceutical customers research spending in Q1, a number of new customer focused programmes are currently being implemented to help increase our growth rate in Q2 and beyond. This, together with the creation of a dedicated business development team, leaves us confident that our Laboratory Group will continue to expand to remain a leading analytical service provider in the US pharmaceutical industry.

"Since we released our year end results we have seen further progress through a preferred vendor agreement with GlaxoSmithKline in our Product Group, announced 14 July. Furthermore in our Laboratory Group, Sanofi-Synthelabo, a world leading pharmaceutical company, has selected Celsis as a preferred provider of laboratory services in the USA. Both of these agreements reinforce our commitment to deliver solid revenue and profit growth according to plan.

"Celsis' strong financial standing means that we are now well positioned for aggressive growth, both organically and through acquisition opportunities, to provide increased earnings and shareholder funds."

Enquiries:

Celsis International plc Tel: 01638 600 151 Jay LeCoque, Chief Executive Officer Jenny Parsons, Corporate Communications

College Hill Tel: 020 7457 2020 Nicholas Nelson / Corinna Dorward

Notes to editors

Celsis International plc

Celsis International plc is a world leader in the development and supply of rapid diagnostic and monitoring systems to detect and measure microbial contamination in finished products bound for consumers. It has successfully developed tests for use in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and toiletries, food and beverage industries and is associated with some of the best-known high street brands in these consumer areas.

These tests are based upon the years of research in enzyme technology that employ numerous methods for the rapid detection of microbial contamination. The result is that microbial testing times are reduced from around five days to a little over one day, thus lending significant cost advantages to Celsis' customers.

Celsis International plc also has a leading cGMP laboratory services, supporting the R&D and manufacturing based testing needs of the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and personal care industries. This business unit currently operates primarily in the United States.

For more information on Celsis International plc go to www.celsis.com