1. The attached slides were used at the Analyst Presentation by John Hirst and Andrew Fisher on the 9th September 2004. The slides could be incomplete without the oral commentary.

2. Cautionary Statement for Purposes of the "Safe Harbor" Provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for forward-looking statements. This press release contains certain forward- looking statements relating to the business of the Group and certain of its plans and objectives, including, but not limited to, future capital expenditures, future ordinary expenditures and future actions to be taken by the Group in connection with such capital and ordinary expenditures, the introduction of new information technology and e-commerce platforms, the expected benefits and future actions to be taken by the Group in respect of certain sales and marketing initiatives, operating efficiencies and economies of scale. By their nature forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. Actual expenditures made and actions taken may differ materially from the Group's expectations contained in the forward- looking statements as a result of various factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Group. These factors include, but are not limited to, the implementation of cost-saving initiatives to offset current market conditions, integration of new personnel and new information systems, continued use and acceptance of e-commerce programs and systems and the impact on other distribution systems, the ability to expand into new markets and territories, the implementation of new sales and marketing initiatives, changes in demand for electronic, electrical, electromagnetic and industrial products, rapid changes in distribution of products and customer expectations, the ability to introduce and customers' acceptance of new services, products and product lines, product availability, the impact of competitive pricing, fluctuations in foreign currencies, and changes in interest rates and overall market conditions, particularly the impact of changes in world-wide and national economies.

3. Second quarter and half year results For the period ended 1st August 2004

4. Second quarter & half year results For the period ended 1st August 2004 AGENDA Introduction - John Hirst, Group Chief Executive Financial Results - Andrew Fisher, Group Finance Director Strategy and Progress- John Hirst, Group Chief Executive Questions & Answers

5. Group Finance Director Andrew Fisher

6. Financial Summary 26 weeks ended 1st August 2004 Sales £395.0m - up 7.6% Operating profit £39.1m - improved operating margin 9.9% (before goodwill amortisation) Improved market conditions Adjusted EPS up 15% Investment in working capital to support growth Net debt at £220.0m - interest cover 5.8 times Unchanged interim dividend

7. Financial Summary Group * CER: Constant Exchange Rates ** Before rebranding costs in 2003/4 and goodwill amortisation *** Before rebranding costs in 2003/4, goodwill amortisation and gain/loss on business disposals

8. Financial Summary Group * Continuing businesses at constant exchange rates ** Gross margin is measured after net costs of freight, packaging, discounts and inventory adjustments *** Before rebranding costs in 2003/4 and goodwill amortisation

9. 2002/3 2003/4 $m MDD Americas SPD and year on year growth rates 2004/5

10. 2002/32003/4 £k MDD UK SPD and year on year growth rates 2004/5 Excluding BuckHickman InOne

11. 2001/22002/3 £k MDD BuckHickman InOne SPD 2003/42004/5

12. 2002/32003/4 £k MDD Mainland Europe & Asia Pacific SPD and year on year growth rates 2004/5

13. 2001/22002/3 £k E-commerce SPD 2004/52003/4 At constant exchange rates

14. Financial Summary Group * Continuing businesses at constant exchange rates ** Gross margin is measured after net costs of freight, packaging, discounts and inventory adjustments *** Before rebranding costs in 2003/4 and goodwill amortisation

15. Gross margin progression 2002/3 Note : Gross margin is measured after cost of freight, packaging, discounts and inventory adjustments 2003/42004/5 H1H2Q1Q2FY

16. Financial Summary Group * Continuing businesses at constant exchange rates ** Gross margin is measured after net costs of freight, packaging, discounts and inventory adjustments *** Before rebranding costs in 2003/4 and goodwill amortisation

17. Financial Summary Industrial Products Division *Continuing businesses at constant exchange rates

18. Profit and loss account Second quarter and first half to 1st August 2004

19. Taxation

20. Profit and loss account Second quarter and first half to 1st August 2004

21. Summarised cash flows Second quarter and first half to 1st August 2004 £m 2004/5 Q2 Q1 H1 Operating profit18.7 19.037.7 Amortisation of goodwill 0.7 0.7 1.4 Net pension credit (1.1) (1.2) (2.3) Depreciation and other non-cash items 5.1 5.3 10.4 Working capital (9.4)(12.3)(21.7) Operating cash flow14.0 11.5 25.5 Net capital expenditure (3.0) (3.8) (6.8) Interest & preference dividend (9.9) (0.1)(10.0) Tax(4.6) (2.2) (6.8) Free cash flow(3.5) 5.4 1.9

22. Working capital flows Second quarter and first half to 1st August 2004 £m 2004/5 Q2 Q1 H1 Inventory(5.5)(10.6)(16.1) Trade receivables 0.8(13.0)(12.2) Trade payables(4.1) 9.2 5.1 Other(0.6) 2.1 1.5 Working capital(9.4)(12.3)(21.7)

23. 2001/2 £m Inventory 2002/3 At 2004/5 budget exchange rates 2003/4 Liege warehouse 2004/5

24. Summarised cash flows Second quarter and first half to 1st August 2004 £m 2004/5 Q2 Q1 H1 Operating profit18.7 19.037.7 Amortisation of goodwill 0.7 0.7 1.4 Net pension credit (1.1) (1.2) (2.3) Depreciation and other non-cash items 5.1 5.3 10.4 Working capital (9.4)(12.3)(21.7) Operating cash flow14.0 11.5 25.5 Net capital expenditure (3.0) (3.8) (6.8) Interest & preference dividend (9.9) (0.1)(10.0) Tax(4.6) (2.2) (6.8) Free cash flow(3.5) 5.4 1.9

25. Movement in net debt £m First half Opening net debt (201.9) Free cash flow 1.9 Ordinary dividends (18.1) (16.2) Purchase of business (2.6) Issue of ordinary shares 0.1 Translation 0.6 Closing net debt (220.0) US$ Senior Notes due 2006, 2010 & 2013 (208.9) Other loans (40.3) Cash and short term deposits 29.2 (220.0)

26. Debt profile - - - - - - Amount drawn at 1 August 2004

27. John Hirst Group Chief Executive Officer

28. Industrial Products Division (IPD) H1 Sales £6.5m£48.0m H1 Operating Profit

29. Industrial Products Division Akron Brass  Sales up 15.8% in first half  GFE performing ahead of expectations  Second Exxon order shipped TPC  Sales up 3.6% in first half  Expanding sales team to reach new segments Kent  First half sales up 1.6% in a weak market  Expanding product range

30. Marketing and Distribution Division (MDD) H1 Sales H1 Operating Profit (adjusted) £347.0m£37.2m

31. FY05 initiatives Expanding product range to match customer needs Increasing sales from major accounts with help from eProcurement and Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) Using CRM software to enhance customer knowledge and experience Targeting small and medium sized customers Step up in China

32. Product range expansion  28,000 products added to new catalogue  Targeting design engineer with semis, passives and electro-mechanical  21,000 new products added to combined UK catalogue (launched in May)  Newark InOne Direct Ship / Not-In-catalogue products added continuously

33. Publication management system European Launch (May) Global management of product data Continuous new product additions Publication of web-pages, catalogues, flyers and other marketing materials far faster Creates new capacity BuckHickman InOne and CPC catalogues now in-house Greater accuracy and responsiveness to market changes

34. Progress with global and major accounts Global accounts Major accounts US Government up 17% year on year Good progress in sales via stock rooms Farnell InOne UK up 18% NUWPEC UKAEA Sales and relationships progressing well eProcurement capabilities and global reach increasingly attractive Americas EAPac

35. Success developing major accounts Case study: UKAEA 2004/5 2003/4 Electronic and electrical equipment c.£800k p.a. Custom built eProcurement platform PPE & Work wear “We liked Farnell InOne because of its flexible eProcurement capabilities” Fiona Digby-Grant, Head of Corporate Commercial at UKAEA

36. eCommerce: 16.2% of N.American sales in Q2 H1 N.American web sales up 51% YoY H1 N.American sales via eProcurement partnerships up 86% 155 Partnerships in place 26 new partnerships in H1, including IBM, Boeing and Philips SPD £k Sales penetration

37. eCommerce: 15.5% sales in EAPac region in Q2 H1 EAPac sales through websites up 65% H1 EAPac sales via eProcurement partnerships up 109% 173 Partnerships in place 20 new partnerships in H1 SPD £k Sales penetration

38. Search engine launch (July) Implemented across Marketing and Distribution Division by year-end July-Farnell InOne UK and Germany August-Farnell InOne Nordics September-Newark InOne Parametric search More intuitive - positive customer reaction Merchandising of like categories Removes the limits on the number of products on Website

39. CRM helping segmentation and driving customer service Customer knowledge improves segmentation Electronic design engineers Education, Health & Safety, Security, SMEs CRM software delivering customer and productivity benefits Improved service levels through order tracking Increasing ‘Outbound’ campaign activities Microchip product launch

40. Joint co-operation for product launch Reach and speed to market CRM capabilities: eBlasts to c.4,500 customers Call Centre Campaigns CRM in action: Microchip product launch

41. Development of technology platform Back office ? Middleware Global Product Database Customer Database CRM System eCommerce Publishing Systems Data Mining Open Web eProcure- ment

42. Major achievements in H1 04/5 Technology  Move to single technology platform Global publishing system, search engine, Orbit implementation Service  Further expansion of product ranges  Growth in corporate business and SME customer base  Source of information on legislation on Removal of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Talent  Appointment of Group Director, Global Supplier Marketing

43. Our markets North America- favourable Asia- continued strong growth UK- modest momentum; markets Mainland Europe expected to improve gradually

44. Summary Stronger results in improved markets Operational gearing – Capacity in infrastructure and people Single technology platform unlocking potential Further progress in major accounts and eProcurement Building SME business Market continues to be positive Organic growth potential and selected acquisitions Increasing confidence in our ability to improve effectiveness and grow market share