Crop Care Divestment Shows Commitment to Shareholder Value

28th August, 2002

Orica Limited and Incitec Ltd today announced the sale of Crop Care Australasia Pty Ltd to Nufarm Limited for $A75 million. The sale is subject to the approval of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Orica Managing Director and CEO, Mr. Malcolm Broomhead, said the divestment of Crop Care demonstrated Orica’s commitment to focusing on shareholder value and to effective portfolio management.

"Crop Care has been unable to meet Orica’s performance hurdle of an 18% return on net assets and we have acted quickly and decisively.

"We believe that the divestment allows Orica to exit this business at a fair price at a time of increasing competition in the agricultural chemicals market," he said.

"Crop Care moves to a company with a more appropriate business mix. Nufarm is a strong and experienced player in the competitive Australian agricultural chemicals industry and is better positioned to extract value from the Crop Care business which is complementary to Nufarm’s existing operations and product range."

As part of the agreement, Orica and Incitec will still receive the final payments owing under the Syngenta Termination Agreements. Depending upon the final settlement terms, the transaction will have minimal impact on Orica’s Earnings Per Share and gearing although it is likely to result in a book loss to Orica of approximately $12 million.

Mr. Broomhead acknowledged the work and commitment of all employees over recent times in the face of difficult market conditions.

· Crop Care Australasia Pty Ltd is a joint venture between Orica Limited (50%) and Incitec Ltd (50%). Incitec Ltd, a listed public company, is owned by Orica Limited 76.55%, Futuris Corporation Limited 21.11% and the balance by other shareholders.

Crop Care offers access to a comprehensive range of crop protection products to farmers in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands. Crop Care has manufacturing facilities at Brendale (Queensland) and Welshpool (Western Australia).