ASSOCIATED BRITISH PORTS HOLDINGS PLC AGM STATEMENT - SECOND HALF GROWTH REMAINS ON TRACK

ASSOCIATED BRITISH PORTS HOLDINGS PLC AGM STATEMENT - SECOND HALF GROWTH REMAINS ON TRACK

At the company�s Annual General Meeting today, Bo Lerenius, Group Chief Executive of Associated British Ports Holdings PLC, said:

�Overall, I am pleased to report that we have made a satisfactory start to 2006. In 2004, we announced our plans to invest more than �400m in our UK ports, under the group�s 10-year revenue-related capital investment programme, and these plans remain firmly on track.

At the Port of Immingham, construction of the �27.5m roll-on/roll-off facility, under a 25-year agreement with DFDS Tor Line, and the construction of the �59.5m coal import facility, which is backed by contracts with BHP Billiton, Drax Power, EDF Energy, International Power and Scottish & Southern Energy are nearing completion and both developments will become operational during this quarter.

At the Port of Hull, we are now concentrating on our third major project on the Humber, a �30-35m shortsea container terminal that is expected to become operational towards the end of 2007 or early in 2008. We received final approval from the government for this scheme at the end of 2005, and we are in the final stages of completing a long-term agreement with a customer to operate this facility.

In addition, we continue to explore the development of a shortsea coal terminal at the Port of Hull. This project could potentially involve an investment of �55-110m, depending upon who operates the terminal. Subject to government approval and customer demand, we aim for this facility to become operational around 2009.

We are also on track to achieve our target of �250m of non-core property and land sales. The timing and the scope of prospective disposals have become more difficult to predict over the years, particularly given the planning requirements that often need to be satisfied prior to a disposal. Nonetheless, we have recently completed the sale of 132 acres of non-operational land associated with our Ports of Barrow and Garston for a total consideration of �19m before related costs and overheads. As at 31 December 2005, the 132 acres of land sold contributed �3.3m to the group�s net assets. These sales, together with others completed since the beginning of this year, bring the total amount sold since 1 January 2000 to �239.4m.Sales completed to date this year will result in operating profit from property development activities being materially greater in the first half of 2006 than the comparable period of 2005.

Supported by the group�s strong cash flow, we have already completed �144m of our �205m share repurchase programme. We have repurchased 31.1m shares at an average price per share of 463 pence, before costs.

The group continues to benefit from the competitive advantage of the many long-term contracts with quality customers that it has secured over recent years. The first two of the group�s planned major growth projects on the Humber will become operational, and start contributing to operating profit, in this quarter. This leads the board to continue to believe that, subject to the development of the overall economic environment, the group is well positioned to deliver higher growth in its UK ports business during the second half of 2006.�

26th April 2006

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