BT's share price grew by 55 per cent in the financial year, compared with only five per cent for the FT-SE 100 index. Earnings per share before exceptional items were 34.7 pence. Your Board is pleased to recommend a final dividend for the year of 12.3 pence per share, which brings the total dividend for the year to 20.4 pence per share, an increase of 7.4 per cent over 1997/98. Yet a company can only achieve great things through the actions of its people and I would like to record here my thanks to BT people for all their efforts. I would also like to thank two directors who retired from the Board during the year, Malcolm Argent and Sir Ewen Fergusson. Both made a notable contribution during their terms of office. Sir Ewen joined the Board as a non-executive director in 1993. Malcolm was appointed to the Board in 1989, becoming a non-executive director in 1994, and played a major part in BT's transformation into the global communications company it is today. During the year, we welcomed Helen Alexander, Neville Isdell and Sir John Weston to the Board. BT has made great progress over the past two decades. Now, with our new vision, we will continue to move forward, building on our success and positioning ourselves for the challenges and opportunities of the new Millennium. SIR IAIN VALLANCE Chairman