RNS No 7003w
WELLINGTON HOLDINGS PLC
19th May 1998


                            WELLINGTON HOLDINGS PLC
                           CHAIRMAN'S AGM STATEMENT
                 Restructured - optimistic about the future -
                  trading ahead of the same period last year

Wellington Holdings plc ("Wellington") held its Annual General Meeting  at  12
noon today.  All resolutions were duly passed and the Chairman, Mr Brian Kent,
made the following statement to shareholders:

"1997  was a year of significant change, both in our Seals division  with  the
successful U.S. acquisition of Dynamic Seals, and in our Compounding  division
with  the  successful  relocation  of  the  Hatcham  Rubber  headquarters  and
production centre from Croydon to Hertford.

We  have also taken the opportunity to review the Conversion division and have
decided to concentrate in future on the two divisions already mentioned.

The company has continued to grow and operating profit increased by 4.8% to  a
record  #6.53m.   Group sales increased by 4.2% to #60.2m and  profit,  before
tax,  fell  by  12.0%, excluding L&H Polymers disposal costs.   This  fall  is
largely  attributable to the one-off Croydon relocation costs of  #0.59m;  the
major rise in the value of sterling, which cost #0.65m and mainly affected our
international  seals operations; and a particularly disappointing  result  for
L&H Polymers, which reported a loss of #0.115m.

As  a  result,  your Board has decided that the business of  L&H  Polymers  no
longer  meets  the Group's strategic ambitions.  It has therefore  decided  to
exit  this  activity and focus solely on the two core divisions of  Seals  and
Compounding, both of which have shown substantial growth in recent  years  and
offer  significant potential for the future.  The expected disposal value  for
this  conversion operation will be at a discount to net assets and a provision
of  #2.3m has been taken in 1997.  The cash received for this business will be
reinvested in our Seals division.

We  continued to invest in your company via a record Capex of #4.2m, more than
twice depreciation.

The underlying pro-forma earnings per share increased by 6.4% to 17.34p.

The  Board has recommended an increased net final dividend of 5.6p to be  paid
on  26  May  1998  to ordinary shareholders on the register at  the  close  of
business on 27 March 1998, making 8.3p net for the year compared with 8.1p for
1996.

Seals  now  represents 66% of the Group's profit and the  timely  addition  of
Dynamic  Seals  in January 1997 has paid off handsomely, adding  an  excellent
#1.07m to operating profits.

Compounding had a tough year with profit falling by 15.8%.  Ondura was hit  by
poor  demand  for  tyre  compound as heavy competition from  European  imports
affected our customers' demands on us and margins were squeezed by the  effect
of  the strong pound on selling prices, despite its beneficial effect on input
costs.

The  activities of Hatcham Rubber, our industrial compounding subsidiary,  are
now  concentrated  on  one  site  at Hertford,  having  absorbed  the  Croydon
operations.   During  the second half of the year a new compounding  line  was
installed.

Hertford  now  has  greater  capacity and lower overheads  than  the  two-site
operation.

Last  month  we announced that Peter Chaffin will take early retirement  after
seven  years  as  Chief Executive, during which time he has  led  the  company
through  a  successful flotation and other major changes, including  those  to
which  I  have previously referred.  I would like to take this opportunity  to
thank  him for his contribution and express the Board's wishes for a long  and
happy retirement.

He  has  been  succeeded by Peter Bennett, who has been a member  of  our  top
management team for over 10 years.  He was responsible for the Seals  division
and  played  a key part in the development of the Group, including the  recent
U.S.  acquisition.  In addition, we have strengthened the Board by  appointing
two  new Executive Directors, Bob Kingsnorth and Simon Mulhall, who were M.D's
of Hallite Seals International and Ondura Rubber respectively.

The  success  in  achieving growth by both organic means  and  by  acquisition
within our Seals division will continue to be key planks of our strategy.   We
also  believe  that  the investments we have made in our Compounding  division
over  the  past  two years will now allow it to be an area of  renewed  profit
growth  and cash generation.  Our new team is resolutely focused on  this  new
strategy.

This year has started positively, with overall trading performance comfortably
ahead  of the same period last year, helped by particularly encouraging  Seals
division results.

We  are optimistic about the future of both our key divisions and look forward
to a successful outcome for 1998."

For further information contact:

Brian  Kent, Chairman                        (after 3  p.m.)0181 941 3774
Peter   Bennett,   Group   Chief   Executive       "        0181 941 3774
Wellington Holdings plc

David Hardy, Binns & Company                                0171 786 9600


END

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