Almirall awards a dividend of 40% to its shareholders

In the framework of the Annual General Meeting

·A gross dividend of 0.31 euros per share is approved, to be paid before the 31 of May, charged against net income from the 2007 financial year that totalled 131.2 million euros

·The Chairman-Chief Executive Officer of Almirall emphasised to shareholders the company’s excellent performance, as reflected by the financial results, the latest acquisitions in Europe and the portfolio of new medicines.

Barcelona, 9 May 2008.- Almirall, the international pharmaceutical company based in Spain, approved during its Annual General Meeting the awarding of a 40% gross dividend.This represents a gross dividend of 0.31 euros per share, to be paid before the 31 May 2008, charged against net income of the 2007 financial year, which totalled 131.2 million euros.

During this first Ordinary General Meeting as a listed company, Jorge Gallardo, Chairman-Chief Executive Officer of Almirall, underlined that “2007 was a good year for Almirall and this is reflected in its robust financial performance, its successful stock market listing in June, its two important acquisitions in Europe and the project portfolio of new medicines which is on due track”.

In the same context, he also stressed the fact that the company is enjoying excellent times: “we are currently placed among the 70 laboratories with the highest turnover in the world and on a European level among the top 36 pharmaceutical companies. Our products are present in more than 70 countries across the five continents”.

Points on the agenda included examining and approving annual accounts for the financial year 2007, when Almirall obtained Net Sales of 792.5 million euros, an increase of 4.5% compared to the previous year. This growth is mainly due to good affiliates performance and the sustained performance of its top ten products. Other Income also went up to 125 million euros, Total Revenues thus standing at 917 million.

Meanwhile, cost containment measures have contributed largely to improvements in the EBIT, the EBITDA and the Normalised Net Income, which have increased by 16.5%, 18.3% and 14.6%, respectively.

Another noteworthy feature is the company’s commitment to R&D as a growth driver. In 2007, company resources allocated to research and development of medicines went up by 41%, from 86.7 million euros in 2006 to 122 million euros in 2007; a reflection of the pipeline projects’ progress. This represents 15% of its Net Sales.

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