Press release

Heerlen, NL, 07 Aug 2012 07:15 CEST

• Q2 EBITDA from continuing operations €290 million (Q2 2011: €339 million)
• Life Sciences continues to deliver robust performance, driven by Nutrition
• Materials Sciences improved, except for caprolactam which had an EBITDA impact of - €70 million
• Q2 cash flow from operating activities at €197 million, higher than comparable and prior quarter
• Profit Improvement Program announced: expected annual EBITDA benefits of €150 million by 2014
• Interim dividend of €0.48 declared, in line with DSM’s dividend policy
• Outlook 2012 largely unchanged with the exception of caprolactam

Commenting on the results, Feike Sijbesma, CEO/Chairman of the DSM Managing Board, said: “Despite the challenging macro-economic environment, I am pleased that DSM was able to deliver another robust set of results demonstrating the strength of our strategy, as evidenced by the ongoing strong performance of Nutrition. Our Life Sciences clusters accounted for around 70% of Q2 EBITDA. This strength has helped to offset the weakness caused by caprolactam in Materials Sciences. The other Materials Sciences businesses improved despite a challenging macro-economic environment.

“The global outlook for the second half of the year is more uncertain due in part to Europe’s inability to find an effective and sustainable solution to the financial challenges facing the Eurozone. Because of the increased economic uncertainty, we are announcing today a Profit Improvement Program that includes structural cost reduction and other initiatives that will generate €150 million EBITDA benefits by 2014.

“While we remain cautious on the macro-economic outlook for the rest of the year, the robustness of our portfolio reinforces our confidence that DSM’s strategic focus is the right one. As evidenced by the recent Kensey Nash and Ocean Nutrition Canada acquisitions, we continue to deliver on our strategy by investing in new, exciting growth opportunities. We are confident that the Profit Improvement Program, together with our broad geographic spread with a significant presence in high growth economies and our very strong balance sheet, leaves us well placed to face the near term challenges. We continue to execute our strategy to achieve stronger, more stable growth and profitability for DSM overall also based on our sustainable innovative solutions addressing the key global trends."