Dividends and Financial Results

On 13 April 2006, shareholders received an interim unfranked dividend of 28 cents per share. A final unfranked dividend of 40 cents per share will be paid on 13 October 2006. As foreshadowed in last year’s Annual Report, dividends have not been franked due to the increasing proportion of revenue now being generated offshore and increased expenditure on research and development in Australia.

The CSL Group achieved a net profit after tax from continuing operations of $351 million (excluding the recognition of the contingent consideration on acquisition of Aventis Behring) with sales revenue up 9% to $2.8 billion. Strong net operating cash flows amounted to $522 million.

As a result of the strong performance this year, provision has been made for a contingent payment as agreed when we acquired Aventis Behring in 2004. CSL agreed to pay US$250 million to Aventis Behring if CSL’s share price moved above $35 dollars and remained above that price for any 60 consecutive trading days in the period between 27 September 2007 and 26 March 2008. The provision is shown as a separate item in CSL’s profit and loss account for the financial year ended 30 June 2006.

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