Ladies and Gentlemen,

Beiersdorf will shape its future from a position of strength. Despite the difficult economic situation in 2003, we succeeded in generating both record profits for the year and a record net return on sales.

In line with these strong results, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board will be proposing a dividend of €121 million or €1.60 per share for fiscal year 2003 (previous year: € 118 million or €1.40 per share) to the Annual General Meeting in June 2004. This proposal reflects the fact that shares held by Beiersdorf are not entitled to dividends.

Adjusted for currency translation effects, sales increased by 4 %. At current exchange rates, however, they were slightly below prior year.

Weaker sales in Germany, Japan, Brazil, and Russia were offset by growth in key European countries and in the Africa/Asia/Australia region, which reached double digits in several cases. This shows that Beiersdorf’s successful business model offers further global potential and can be successfully transferred from country to country. This is where our future potential lies.

We are confident about our prospects for 2004, and expect to see stronger growth for the following reasons:

1. We will be able to focus all our efforts on our retail consumer business with our strong global brands.

2. The stable shareholder structure will facilitate quick decisions.

3. The share buyback at the start of 2004 will allow us to use our shares as an acquisition currency.

4. tesa AG and BSN medical GmbH & Co. KG will continue to successfully develop their professional business in their own organizational structures.

In 2004 we will focus upon our organic sales growth and will intensively examine potential acquisitions.

The Executive Board wishes to extend its thanks to all employees and their representatives around the world for their constructive cooperation. We thank our customers and our shareholders for their loyalty, and our business partners for their support.

Dr. Rolf Kunisch
Chairman of the Executive Board