RNS Number:5039K
Singer & Friedlander Group PLC
29 April 2003


                                 AGM Statement


At today's Annual General Meeting, all the resolutions that were set out in the
notice of the Annual General Meeting were duly passed.

Mr, John Hodson, the Chairman of Singer & Friedlander Group PLC reported the
following:-

"The extremely taxing trading conditions which we experienced in 2002 have
persisted into the early part of 2003. Although the war in Iraq has removed one
area of uncertainty which was overshadowing the markets, the economic and
political outlook remains unpredictable.

Against that difficult background, it is pleasing to report that our core
banking activities, both in the UK and the Isle of Man, have made a steady start
to the year. The managed expansion of our banking book has continued and we
detect no deterioration in its general credit quality which gives us cause for
concern at this stage. Our consumer finance and leasing activities have also
made solid progress in the early part of 2003 although the subdued level of
demand in the economy does affect the buoyancy of the markets in which they
operate.

As I said in my Chairman's Statement on the 2002 Accounts, the fortunes of our
asset management division are crucially dependent on the levels of the principal
markets in which they operate and on investor confidence. The first quarter of
2003 has seen average market levels well below the 2002 closing position
although the closing level at the end of the first quarter of 3613 was
significantly above the low point of 3287 reached on 12 March. While the
subsequent further recovery is encouraging we do not expect a sustained rally
from these levels in the short term.

Our associated company, Carnegie, in which we hold a 30.85% stake, reported a
first quarter pre-tax profit of #2.4 million on 16 April, compared with a profit
of #8.8 million for the first quarter of 2002. The company's performance
continues to be adversely affected by the depressed levels of the markets and
the lack of corporate activity in the Nordic Region. As we have said in the
past, it is not our intention to hold this stake for the long term and we shall
dispose of it as and when we judge market conditions to be sufficiently
favourable. At the close of business yesterday, the market value of our holding
was #69 million.

Your Group is well capitalised with a risk asset ratio of some 15%. Market
conditions are however very uncertain and further capital will be needed to
support the continued and profitable growth of our banking business. As I have
just mentioned at an appropriate time we intend to dispose of our holding in
Carnegie. Until this disposal takes place we believe it would be imprudent to
reduce the capital/cash resources of our business in any significant way. We
believe that to maintain a strong capital base is entirely appropriate for the
present business climate. We will continue to monitor our capital position
closely and when conditions improve, we will consider whether further capital
should be retained to expand the business or returned to shareholders. We also
have under review the efficiency of our current capital structure, in particular
whether part of our capital resource should be provided by long term debt
capital rather than relying solely on equity capital as at present.

I now turn to changes in the composition and structure of the Board. As
announced with our 2002 results, Sir Harry Djanogly has indicated his wish to
step down from the Board at the conclusion of this meeting. Sir Harry has been a
director of your company since its floatation in 1987, latterly as the senior
independent director. I am sure that shareholders will wish to join his
colleagues on the Board in thanking Sir Harry for his very valuable contribution
to the direction of your company over the years and wishing him success in the
future. We have also announced that the Board has agreed to my request to stand
down as Chairman of the Company as from the end of this meeting to allow me to
concentrate exclusively on my role as Chief Executive. I am very pleased that
Paul Selway-Swift has agreed to take over the chair.

I am also delighted to report two non-executive appointments which will further
strengthen and broaden the range of experience and expertise on the Board. As we
have previously announced, Richard Bernays was appointed a non-executive
director at the end of March. His career has been spent in the asset management
industry, in very senior positions, and his detailed knowledge of one of our
core business activities will be a particularly valuable ingredient in the
Board's deliberations. Secondly, Dr Sarah Rutherford has accepted the Board's
invitation to join the Board as a non-executive director and her formal
appointment will be confirmed by the Board at its meeting later today. Dr
Rutherford has had considerable experience in the financial services industry,
directly as a research analyst and also as a financial journalist for leading
publications; more recently she has undertaken research projects in employment
affairs, which is in an area which assumes critical and increasing importance in
the management of our businesses."


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