1 DAIRY CREST GROUP PLC INTERIM RESULTS For the period ended 30 September 2008

2 Key Highlights Continued to successfully deliver strategy of building market leading brands Foods and Liquids businesses performed strongly with growth across all brands and successful implementation of price increases Dairies profits adversely affected by lower ingredients realisations and reduced Household sales Continuing to drive efficiencies and focus on cost reduction Trading conditions continue to toughen and become more difficult to predict Full year adjusted profit before tax expected to be 10% below last year

3 Financial Review Alastair Murray

4 Financial Highlights Group Revenue up 6% to £808.2m (2007: £761.4m) Adjusted profit before tax* up 4% to £38.5m (2007: £37.1m) Adjusted earnings per share* down 3% to 21.6p (2007: 22.2p) Interim dividend unchanged at 7.1p Net debt £490.6m (2007: £458.5m) *Before exceptional items and amortisation of acquired intangibles

5 Income Statement * Before exceptional items and amortisation of acquired intangibles Year Mar 08 £’mHalf year Sept 08 Half Year Sept Profit on operations* (26.2)Finance costs(14.3)(13.0) 10.1Other finance income: pensions Share of JV net profit* Adjusted profit before tax* (21.1)Exceptional items(5.5)(2.4) (9.0)Amortisation of acquired intangibles(4.6)(4.1) 66.0Profit before tax (12.5)Taxation (incl. exceptional tax)(21.9)(3.7) 1.2Discontinued operations Group profit after tax

6 Segmental Analysis Year Mar 08 £’mHalf Year Sept 08 Half Year Sept 07 Revenue 499.6Foods excl JV Share of JV Foods ,070.1Dairies ,636.6Total Profit on operations * 72.9Foods excl JV Share of JV (post tax) Foods Dairies Total * Before exceptional items and amortisation of acquired intangibles

7 Exceptional Items £’mHalf Year Sep 08 CashNon CashTotal Dairies restructure-(1.1) Stilton disposal*3.4(7.8)(4.4) 3.4(8.9)(5.5) * Includes £1.4 million cash received after the period end

8 Balance Sheet Year Mar 08 £’mHalf Year Sept 08 Half Year Sept Net operating assets (97.6)Tax(94.3)(79.2) (474.8)Net debt(490.6)(458.5) 387.7Net assets employed %Gearing156%137%

9 Operating Cash Flow * Before exceptional items and amortisation of acquired intangibles ** Net of grant amortisation *** Operating property profits and share based payments charges Year Mar 08 £’mHalf Year Sept 08 Half Year Sept Adjusted profit on operations* Depreciation and amortisation** (13.6)Exceptional items(1.9)(7.4) (11.5)Pensions(5.5)(4.9) (2.8)Other ***(2.4)(2.7) (7.4)Working capital(16.8)(10.0) 108.4Operating cash flow

10 Cash Flow Year Mar 08 £’mHalf Year Sept 08 Half Year Sept Operating cash flow (34.0)Capital expenditure(26.3)(14.2) (60.4)Interest, tax and dividends(41.8)(35.7) 7.3Dividends received from joint venture (7.8)Acquisition of businesses(1.2)(0.6) 16.2Disposal of business and assets (46.2)Foreign exchange movement3.7(7.9) (7.3)Other-0.4 (23.8)Movement in net debt(15.8)(7.5) Net debt at 31 March 2008(474.8) Net debt at 30 September 2008(490.6)

11 Pensions Summary Financial markets have been highly volatile in the first half Gross pension deficit of £32.4m reported at the half year under IAS19 Fall in asset valuations partially offset by increased discount rate Under existing agreement with Trustee, DC paying £12m of additional cash contributions in 08/09

12 Financing Update New £225m multi-currency revolving credit facility signed in July 2008 Facility split between Sterling (£85m) and Euros (€175m) Same financial covenants as 2004 and 2006 facilities Margin significantly increased Next facility to mature is in November 2011 Comfortably within covenants at half year

13 Business Review Mark Allen

14 A Consistent and Successful Strategy Build market leading positions in branded and added value markets Invest in industry leading facilities to create competitive advantage Downsize commodity risk to improve quality of earnings Strategic acquisitions -Branded and added value markets -Opportunities for synergistic acquisitions in Dairies division Deliver excellent value to our shareholders and other stakeholders

15 Strong Brand Performance BrandMarketMarket growth*Brand growth † UK Cheese 15% 31% UK Dairy Spreads 22% 35% UK Dairy Spreads 22% 36% UK Spreadable Butters 20% 82% French non butter spreads 2 %2 % 2% Chilled Yogurts and desserts 9% 8% Chilled Yogurts and desserts 9% 27% Flavoured Milk 4% 12% Source: † DC sales growth by value, * AC Nielsen or IRI or TNS 52 week MAT value growth to March 2008

16 Ongoing Brand Strength in Foods Division Foods Division has performed strongly in tough retail environment Continue to simplify supply chain – fewer sites and fewer brands Disposal of Commodity Cheese business in 2006 and Stilton this year has allowed real focus on brands

17 UK butter and spreads market is showing year on year value growth of 17%, but with volume decline of (1%) Dairy Crest market share of dairy spreads category up to 67% from 64% last year Utterly Butterly continues to perform strongly (+11% by volume, 31% by value) Country Life has benefited from major advertising campaign Country Life packet butter up 9% by volume and 23% by value in a declining market Country Life spreadable up 104% by volume and 82% by value Increased market share in UK Spreads

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19 Clover recovering from last year’s product recall Sales volumes in H1 2008/09 exceed those in H1 2006/7 Good prospects for Clover Lighter following launch in August with strong distribution UK Spreads – Clover Recovering Strongly 6 months to 30 th September Tonnes12,90010,70013,100 Source: DC

20 Leading Dairy Spreads £66m £67m £30m £58m £38m £43m £m Source:AC Nielsen, September 2008, MAT

21 St Hubert – Strong in Difficult Market French retail food volumes in decline, by between 1% and 4% St Hubert overall performance in line with our expectations  Maintained market share of French spreads at 36%  New sales to Lidl Continued strong growth from St Hubert Omega 3 up 3% by volume and 10% by value  Clear number one brand variant in French spreads Total St Hubert sales up 3% by value but down (4%) by volume year on year Italian sales up 6% by volume and 20% by value

22 French Spreads Market Share Stable % Source:IRI (by value) 51% 31% 13% 41% 36% 16%

23 Cheese – Cathedral City Marches On UK cheese markets showing no volume growth but value +12% yoy (TNS) Strong growth from Cathedral City with sales up 31% by value and 11% by volume  £182m brand at retail sales price (TNS 7/9/08)  Cathedral City Lighter now over 10% of total sales  Cathedral City Vintage launched in H1 Cathedral City still less than 30% of total mature/extra mature cheddar sales Retailer-branded Davidstow cheddar down by 34% volume and 12% value due to reduced promotions

24 Cheese Business – Simplified Supply Chain Investment in Nuneaton cheese packing on time and budget  Project cost c.£25 million  Initial packing capacity c.33,000 tonnes  On track for first commercial production early 2009 Stilton business disposal completed despite referral to Competition Commission UK cheese business now comprises Davidstow Creamery and Nuneaton maturation store, packing and despatch Limited exposure to commodity cheese market

25 Maintained leading position in children's sector with market share back over 50% Overall Yoplait brand sales up 9% by value and volume Petits Filous and Frubes continue to show strong growth -Petits Filous up 10% by volume (8% by value) -Frubes up 24% by volume (27% by value) -increased promotional and marketing activity with emphasis on Vitamin D and Calcium Yoplait Dairy Crest – Continuing Growth

26 Dairies Division comprises Liquids (Retail), Household and Ingredients Liquids business continues to make progress Ingredients realisations sharply lower due to weaker markets Household business adversely affected by consumer slowdown Focus on efficiency and cost control Dairies Division is Challenging

27 UK milk prices have continued to increase due to shortage in supply 2008/09 production is 150 million litres behind 2007/08 (to September) (RPA) Dairy Crest milk prices have risen this year by 1.7ppl (milk for cheese) and 1.3ppl (milk for liquid) broadly in line with market (Source: milkprices.com) Increases to farmers have been offset by on-farm cost increases but there are strong signs that on-farm costs are starting to abate Dairy Market Pressures Source: RPA

28 Liquid Products – Volume Growth Retail milk market volumes are flat year on year but up 16% by value Dairy Crest volumes up 3% and value up 18% Increased business with Sainsburys and Morrisons and Lidl business win Frijj performing strongly with volumes +5% and value +12% Continued focus on cost base

29 Ingredients Business – Prices Down Turnaround from last year’s sharp increases in dairy commodity prices Ingredients stocks to be reduced in H2 French Butter €/kgAprilSept German SMP €/kgAprilSept Source: DairyCo

30 Household – addressing consumer downturn Price increases implemented to offset cost increases Sales impacted with underlying decline up to 10% Milk & More and stronger promotional programmes offsetting further decline Milk & More trial now operating in 30 depots  Growing strongly  Increased average spend  Good feedback  New system solution underway Good progress with depot closures, although difficult property market impacting realisations

31 Cost Reduction Measures Necessary to counteract pressure of higher input costs and increasingly hard-pressed consumers RDC project for liquid milk progressing well – reducing costs and increasing dairy capacity Nottingham dairy closure consultation initiated in September 2008 Head Office reorganisation completed October 2008 Expected to deliver significant savings in 2009/10

32 First Half Summary Continued to successfully deliver strategy of building market leading brands in first half Foods and Liquids businesses performed strongly with growth across all brands and successful implementation of price increases Dairies profits adversely affected by lower ingredients realisations and reduced Household sales Continuing to drive efficiencies and focus on cost reduction

33 Outlook Trading conditions continue to toughen and become more difficult to predict Consumers increasingly driven by value Essential to maintain investment in marketing and operating facilities Weaker ingredients markets will have adverse effect in second half Lower property realisations and delayed transactions will also impact Full year adjusted profit before tax expected to be approximately 10% below last year

34 DAIRY CREST GROUP PLC INTERIM RESULTS For the period ended 30 September 2008