Basel, Switzerland
August 30,  2001

Michael Pragnell, Chief Executive Officer, said:
"Markets in 2001 have been tougher than expected. Overall, our response to the combined challenge of adverse markets and intense integration activity has been very encouraging. Sales, as indicated in May, were stronger in the second quarter than in the first. Margin quality has been maintained with cost savings ahead of plan and the delivery of $70 million of synergies. Good margin progress has been made in seeds. Four new crop protection products obtained registrations, and initial introductions were highly successful."

Highlights for 1st Half 2001

Growth rates in the following narrative compare 2001 actuals with pro forma 2000 and are at constant exchange rates (CER).

Sales of $4.03 billion were four percent lower than the first half of 2000; tough conditions continued throughout the period with both economic and abnormal weather-related challenges affecting the market. The late start to the season in many northern hemisphere markets resulted, as expected, in a stronger second quarter. Commodity crop prices remained generally depressed and in Latin America a tight credit policy has been sustained in view of the financial instability in the region. In aggregate, prices were down less than one percent.

EBITDA declined by four percent with a reduction in gross profit of $140 million being partially offset by cost savings of some $90 million and the margin was sustained at 26.3 percent. Fixed costs were reduced in all areas, except in development where additional costs were incurred due to expenditure phasing. Over half the reported decline of $101 million in EBITDA was due to adverse currency movements, particularly currency weakness in Asia.

Earnings per share, excluding special items, was maintained at $3.95.

Crop Protection: Product initiatives have been a focus for Crop Protection in the first half of the year. Registrations and first market launches were made for four important new products:

• CALLISTO(R) (mesotrione), a post-emergence corn herbicide with a new mode of action, was successfully launched in Germany and Austria with additional registrations achieved in France, Holland and the USA;
• ACANTO(R) (picoxystrobin), a new generation strobilurin fungicide, received its first registration in Germany for use on cereals;
• APIRO(R) (pyriftalid), a broad spectrum herbicide particularly effective on grasses in rice, received its first registration in South Korea;
• trifloxysulfuron-sodium, a post emergence herbicide for use on cotton and sugarcane, received first registrations in Argentina and Columbia.

The uptake of CALLISTO(R) has been extremely encouraging; the product sold out in a limited introduction in the USA and has had a successful first season in Germany.

Good progress is being made in rationalizing the product portfolio to the target of 76 active ingredients with plans well advanced for the phase-out of the first 31.

In April, the new state-of-the-art GRAMOXONE(R) plant opened in Nantong, China; this will manufacture for China and other Asia Pacific countries. In July, Syngenta announced its intention to purchase a further 50 percent of shares in Tomono Agrica of Japan bringing its shareholding to 100 percent. This will further strengthen Syngenta's operations in the important Japanese market.

Seeds: Restructuring initiatives undertaken in 2000 resulted in improved profitability in the first half of the year following rationalization of non-priority crops.

New Technology: As indicated in March, charges classified at merger as Corporate have been reallocated in order to improve transparency (see page nine for a full analysis). The separation of the investment in New Technology demonstrates Syngenta's long-term commitment to new areas of plant science.

Synergies: Every opportunity to accelerate the delivery of synergies has been pursued and $70 million has been realized in the first six months of this year. A breakdown of the savings, along with further details on initiatives can be found on page six of this
report.

Cash Flow: Cash flow was strong with proceeds from the mandated product disposals more than offsetting expenditure on restructuring coupled with tight control of seasonal working capital. Net debt at $2.4 billion is at the same level as at the beginning of the period.

A successful bond market debut was announced on 26 June with an issue total of EUR 1150 million in early July. The proceeds will be used to refinance short-term debt and for general corporate purposes.

Outlook
Michael Pragnell, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"With commodity crop prices still low and increased instability in Brazil and Argentina at the start of their main season, second-half sales are unlikely to show improvement. The acceleration in delivering synergies is expected to result in $150 million of savings for the year, $60 million higher than our initial plan. On the basis of prevailing exchange rates, this accelerated program will underpin or even slightly improve the EBITDA margin for the year. As we build on the achievements in Syngenta's first year, we remain focused on delivering our medium-term goals."

Syngenta is listed on the Swiss stock exchange (SYNN), and in London (SYA), New York (SYT) and Stockholm (SYN).

Further information is available at www.syngenta.com

Company news release
N3765