Benchmark Holdings Regulatory News (BMK)

31 January 2018

Benchmark Holdings plc

("Benchmark" or the "Company" or the "Group")

Board Succession

Benchmark (AIM: BMK), the aquaculture health, nutrition and genetics business, announces ahead of the Company's Annual General Meeting, that its Chairman Alex Hambro has communicated his intention to retire from the Board to focus on his other business interests and non-executive roles. Accordingly, the Board has commenced a search for his successor, and will plan for an orderly handover once an individual is identified.

This process corresponds with the Company's ongoing transition from a phase of rapid acquisition-led growth since its IPO in December 2013, to one more focused on organic growth, integration and operational execution. Over the last three years, Benchmark has built an international platform with strong market positions in health, advanced nutrition and genetics, that are each centred on the large and growing aquaculture market.

The Group is now focused on improving its profitability through leveraging its global platform and is reviewing its activities in areas that fall outside of aquaculture. As reported in our recent preliminary results, substantial progress is being achieved across all of the Group's activities.

Alex Hambro said:

"Since the IPO in 2013, Benchmark has created a unique group, comprised of a team of the most talented aquaculture professionals to be found anywhere in the world, and which would be impossible to replicate. Now that the strategic focus of the business has switched to the international integration of the operating divisions, I look forward to bringing my successor on board and ensuring a seamless handover."

ENDS-