John Crane Management Change

31 May 2012

Smiths Group plc today announces that Paul Cox, President of John Crane, will step down to further his career through opportunities outside the Group, with effect from today. The Board of Smiths Group believes that it is appropriate to make this change at this time in order to take John Crane on to the next stage in its development. The process to appoint a permanent replacement is underway. In the interim, the divisional management will report to Tedd Smith, currently President of Flex-Tek, who will look after the day-to-day running of John Crane. Pat McCaffrey, currently Chief Operations Officer at Flex-Tek, will step in to run Flex-Tek. Both individuals will report to Philip Bowman.

Chief Executive Philip Bowman said “I would like to thank Paul for his valuable contribution to Smiths Group over the past seven years and for his role in developing John Crane into the strong business that it is today. I wish him well in the next steps he takes in developing his career.”

There is no change in trading or expectations at John Crane or Smiths Group overall since the interim management statement issued on 15 May 2012.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the operations, performance and financial condition of the Group. By their nature, these statements involve uncertainty since future events and circumstances can cause results and developments to differ materially from those anticipated. The forward-looking statements reflect knowledge and information available at the date of preparation of the press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Nothing in this press release should be construed as a profit forecast.