For immediate release

[4 May 2005, Hong Kong] - AS Watson, the retail and manufacturing division of Hutchison Whampoa Limited, today announces that Mr. Hugues Witvoet has been appointed Deputy CEO of Marionnaud by the perfumery brand's Board of Directors.

Hugues Witvoet, a graduate of the ESSEC and aged 46, has spent the last 10 years in Asia where he held several senior executive positions with Promodès Group in Korea from 1995 to 2000, and with LVMH Hong Kong from 2000 to 2005.

He was successively President of the Asia Pacific LVMH Fashion Group (2000-2003) and President of LVMH Investment Asia (2003-2005). He was, thus, in charge of the Group's long-term strategic projects and business in Asia, overseeing key brands such as Sephora, Kenzo and Chaumet. He was also LVMH's representative to government, financial, real estate and joint venture partners, as well as to the company's brand distributors.

He has been President of the Comité Colbert in China since 2002.

Before embarking on a career in Asia, Hugues Witvoet worked for McKinsey in London between 1988 and 1995 on the retail and consumer goods sector. Prior to this, he worked for 6 years (1982-1988) with Royal Dutch Shell in Paris and Madrid. He started his career in Mexico, working for L'Oréal as Business Controller from 1981 to 1982.

Commenting on his appointment with Marionnaud, Mr. Witvoet said, "I am particularly proud to join a company as emblematic as Marionnaud. It would be a great honour for me to participate, alongside with Marcel Frydman, in the international development of the brand within the AS Watson Group."

About AS Watson

AS Watson Group (ASW) is the largest Health & Beauty retailer in the world. With a history dating back to 1828, the Group has evolved into an international retail and manufacturing corporation with operations in 31 markets worldwide. Today, the Group operates over 6,200 retail stores running the gamut from health & beauty, luxury perfumeries & cosmetics to food, electronics, fine wine and airport retail arms. Also an established player in the beverage industry, ASW provides a full range of beverages from bottled water, fruit juices, soft drinks and tea products to the world's finest wine labels via its international wine wholesaler and distributor. ASW employs over 87,000 staff and is a member of the world renowned Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Limited, which has major interests in ports and related services, telecommunications, property and hotels, retail and manufacturing, and energy and infrastructure with businesses in 52 countries.

On 14 January 2005, AS Watson announced a cash offer of approximately 534 million euros for Marionnaud shares and OCEANE. It has successfully acquired more than 90% of Marionnaud at the end of March.

The above press release and related photo can be found in our corporate website's News section [www.aswatson.com]