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Basel, Switzerland
February 6, 2009

• Sales $11.6 billion up 21 percent at constant exchange rates
• Crop Protection sales up 22 percent(1) at $9.2 billion
• Seeds sales up 16 percent(1) to $2.4 billion
• Earnings per share(2) up 42 percent to $16.26
• Earnings per share $14.63 after restructuring and impairment
• Free cash flow $761 million
• Proposed dividend increase: up 25 percent to CHF 6.00

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Reported Financial Highlights					Excluding Restructuring, Impairment
	2008 $m	2007 $m	Actual  %		2008 $m	2007 $m	Actual%	CER(1)%
Sales	11624	9240	+ 26		11624	9240	+ 26	+ 21
Net Income (3)	1385	1109	+ 25		1540	1112	+ 38	-
Earnings per share	$14.63	$11.42	+ 28		$16.26	$11.45	+ 42	-
Excluding 2007 non-recurring income					$16.26	$11.06	+ 47	-

Mike Mack, Chief Executive Officer, said:

“2008 was an extraordinary year for agriculture in which acreage expanded and technology adoption accelerated. Growers worldwide increased usage intensity for crop protection and planted higher value seeds, resulting in excellent crop yields globally. Syngenta was able to take full advantage of the favorable market environment thanks to the breadth of our portfolio and our global presence. We achieved particularly strong growth in emerging markets, which now account for over a third of our sales. Growth in food and feed demand is centered in these countries and underlies their ongoing drive to realize yield potential.

“Sales growth was broad-based and was accompanied by higher profitability, despite substantial growth investments which will ensure the further expansion of our business. In Seeds, we successfully launched our proprietary triple stack in the USA and demonstrated the broad scope of our traits and germplasm globally. In Crop Protection, we gained market share for the fourth consecutive year. New products launched since 2006 showed dynamic growth and we added major projects to our strong pipeline. The potential of existing products was exemplified by AMISTAR®, with sales now in excess of $1 billion, and by ACTARA®/CRUISER®. We commenced a major capacity expansion program to enable us to realize this potential. At the same time we returned over $1 billion to shareholders while retaining the financial flexibility to make several acquisitions in strategic areas.”

(1) Growth at constant exchange rates, see Appendix A.
(2) EPS on a fully-diluted basis, excluding restructuring and impairment.
(3) Net income to shareholders of Syngenta AG.


Financial performance 2008

Sales up 26 percent

Sales at constant exchange rates (CER) increased by 21 percent, with growth across all product lines and regions. Volume growth of 15 percent was supplemented by a six percent contribution from price. Crop Protection sales* rose by 22 percent (CER) and Seeds sales by 16 percent (CER).

EBITDA margin 21.5 percent

EBITDA increased by 22 percent (CER) to $2.5 billion primarily reflecting the growth in volume. Price increases and operational efficiency savings more than offset higher raw material costs and are enabling the company to continue investing in growth.

Currency movements

The impact of currencies on reported sales was positive in the first half of the year and neutral in the second half reflecting the appreciation of the dollar towards the end of the year, notably against emerging market currencies. For the full year, currencies had a positive impact of $164 million on EBITDA.

Earnings per share up 28 percent

Excluding restructuring and impairment, earnings per share rose 42 percent to $16.26. On the same basis and excluding non-recurring income in 2007, earnings per share rose by 47 percent. The increase was driven by higher operating income and a lower tax rate. After charges for restructuring and impairment, earnings per share were $14.63 (2007: $11.42, including non-recurring income).

Business highlights

Crop Protection: outperformance

2008 was a year in which greater usage intensity of Crop Protection products brought increased realization of the benefits they bring. These benefits go beyond pest control and deliver improved crop yield and vigor. Syngenta’s modern portfolio has the breadth needed to offer full programs and solutions to growers enabling them to improve yield and therefore profitability. The value of our products to growers allowed us to achieve a price increase of six percent in 2008.

In Europe, higher crop prices and the elimination of the EU set-aside requirement resulted in increased acreage in Western Europe. Strong demand for cereals favored the development of the fungicide market in particular. Sales of AMISTAR®, BRAVO® and our leading triazole ALTO® all rose by over 30 percent, illustrating the importance of a broad portfolio in the treatment of disease, where resistance means that single compounds are often ineffective. In Eastern Europe growth across all product lines reflected the ongoing modernization of agriculture and the strengthening of our market-leading position, a result of our long-standing presence in the region and of recent investments in the product range and in marketing. In NAFTA we played a key role in the development of the US corn fungicide market with our combination product QUILT®, while in Seed Care, CRUISER® continued to prove its efficacy on both corn and soybean. We also benefited from significant volume and price gains in the glyphosate market, where our TOUCHDOWN® range was further differentiated through the introduction of HALEX®. Latin America had a record year despite a deterioration of economic conditions in the second half. In Asia Pacific, growth was particularly strong in the emerging markets with a focus on the key crops of rice and vegetables.

* Crop Protection sales include $73 million of inter-segment sales.

Sales growth was strong across the range. For the first time Fungicides were our largest product line, led by AMISTAR® for which sales reached $1 billion. An exceptional performance in Non-selective herbicides reflected a buoyant glyphosate market in which TOUCHDOWN® gained market share thanks to the success of the TOUCHDOWN® brand ladder and to the launch of HALEX®. ACTARA® and CRUISER®, based on the same active ingredient thiamethoxam, drove growth in Insecticides and Seed Care respectively. Growth in Professional Products was led by growing media sales from Fafard.

Seed Care sales were driven by a technology shift and market share gain: we market our seed treatments to major seed companies and in 2008 announced a multi-year agreement to sell CRUISER® to Pioneer Hi-Bred for use on their corn seed products in NAFTA. We are expanding the scope of our technology with the planned launch of AVICTA® on corn and the announcement of Plene™, a new technology which will dramatically improve the cost efficiency of sugar cane planting in Brazil. In December we announced an R&D agreement with Dow AgroSciences to evaluate Dow compounds for incorporation into our Seed Care portfolio.

New products: Sales of new products (defined as those launched since 2006) totaled $263 million. The largest contribution came from the cereal herbicide AXIAL®, which was well positioned to gain share in a buoyant cereals market. The fungicide REVUS®, used on vegetables, vines and potatoes, expanded rapidly with registrations in over 50 countries planned. The insecticide DURIVO® was launched on rice in Indonesia and was an immediate success. In Seed Care AVICTA® sales were lower owing to reduced US cotton acres.

R&D pipeline: The combined peak sales potential of our Crop Protection pipeline is in excess of $2 billion. We have several products in late development including 520, a broad spectrum cereal fungicide, which made significant advances during the year and is now scheduled for launch in 2010; 524, a seed treatment fungicide; and 449, a new herbicide for corn and sugar cane. We signed a strategic alliance with Rohm & Haas to develop and commercialize INVINSA™ technology as a unique product for crop stress protection in field crops. We will also prepare regulatory studies jointly with DuPont for DuPont’s Cyazypyr™, a new broad spectrum insecticide with significant potential for combination with our own products.

EBITDA increased by 28 percent (CER) to $2.5 billion with a record margin of 26.6 percent (2007: 25.0 percent). Substantial volume growth and price increases more than offset a $68 million impact from higher raw material costs, while allowing significant investment in growth opportunities.

Seeds: broad-based growth

In 2008 our diversified Seeds portfolio was well placed to respond to the global shifts in crop acreages. We also benefited from the scale of our presence in emerging markets, where the trend in favor of high value seeds is a key milestone in the modernization of farming practice.

Corn & Soybean: In the USA, where GM penetration continued to expand, our proprietary triple stack seed AGRISURE® 3000 GT was successfully launched in limited quantities. Availability will increase rapidly and further advances in portfolio quality will be achieved through combination of the traits with elite germplasm. In soybean, where Syngenta already has a full traited offer, quality of germplasm plays a key differentiating role and allowed us again to gain market share. With lower US corn acres, growers outside the USA responded by increasing corn plantings. This gave rise to new opportunities with a broadening of our hybrid maturity profile in Europe and the expansion of our traited offer in Latin America. In Brazil, approval of our Bt11 trait was confirmed in May, enabling us to introduce the trait for the 2008/2009 season. Approval for GA21 herbicide tolerance later in the year opens up future potential for double-stack products. Brazilian soybean sales progressed rapidly with excellent acceptance of the early maturity V-Max variety. In Argentina, the acquisition of SPS Argentina SA will complement our existing strong corn position while giving us a platform for the launch of soybean technology.

Diverse Field Crops: Sunflower sales expanded rapidly, notably in Eastern Europe, where growing demand for healthy eating oils has fuelled acreage expansion and a move away from open pollination towards higher quality hybrids. We strengthened our position in oilseed rape and doubled our market share in US sugar beet following the launch of our glyphosate-tolerant variety.

Vegetables & Flowers: In Vegetables we successfully integrated Zeraim Gedera which strengthened our focus on high value crops and our presence in the Mediterranean region. Flowers growth reflected the acquisition of Fischer which has reinforced our world leading position. In the fourth quarter we completed two more acquisitions which further expand our genetic pool: industry-leading breeder and producer Goldsmith Seeds Inc., and the chrysanthemum and aster business of US flowers producer Yoder Brothers Inc.

R&D pipeline: We have a promising pipeline of traits in both corn and soybean, which focuses on delivering improved solutions for growers throughout the Americas. These include drought tolerance, nitrogen efficiency and corn amylase, an enzyme which improves the productivity of ethanol plants. In December we received EPA approval for the first of our corn pipeline traits, AGRISURE VIPTERA™ (VIP broad lep). The value of our technology is increasingly recognized externally as demonstrated by the licensing of dicamba-enabling technology to Monsanto and of VIP broad lep to Pioneer Hi-Bred. Among our many Vegetable projects are complex native traits to protect sweet peppers from sucking insects, developed through a joint approach by entomologists in India and Switzerland.

EBITDA of $135 million (2007: $98 million) was driven by volume growth and an improvement in gross margin, partly offset by increased investment in R&D and marketing. The EBITDA margin improved to 5.5 percent and is on track to reach the target of 15 percent in 2011, driven by the development of a fully traited offer in corn and growth in high margin businesses such as Vegetables.

Net financial expense

Net financial expense increased to $169 million (2007: $42 million) due to a negative impact from currencies, which in 2007 were favorable. The company’s ongoing financial strength is demonstrated by interest cover (EBITDA/net interest) of 16.7x.

Taxation

The favorable resolution of several statutory tax audits resulted in an underlying tax rate for the period of 19 percent (2007: 24 percent). A tax rate in the low to mid-twenties is expected over the medium term.

Cash flow

Free cash flow was $761 million. Average trade working capital as a percentage of sales was 37 percent (2007: 39 percent) primarily reflecting good receivables collection. Fixed capital expenditure of $444 million (2007: $317 million) was higher as investment in both Seeds and Crop Protection was increased.

Capacity expansion

In July, Syngenta announced a phased capacity expansion program with an expected total investment of $600 million over the three years 2008-2010. The main products concerned are the fungicide azoxystrobin (AMISTAR®) and the insecticide thiamethoxam (ACTARA/CRUISER®). Expenditure under the program in 2008 was $40 million.

Cash return to shareholders

A dividend of CHF 4.80 per share (2007: CHF 3.80) was paid in April representing a total payout of $450 million. In addition Syngenta repurchased 2.3 million shares, bringing the total cash return for the year to $1042 million. The cumulative cash return over the last five years is $3.7 billion.

A significant increase in the dividend for 2008 to CHF 6.00 per share will be submitted for shareholder approval at the AGM on 21 April 2009.

Outlook

Mike Mack, Chief Executive Officer, said:

“In 2008, buoyant agricultural markets demonstrated the central role of technology in an ongoing drive to raise yields. Syngenta capitalized on the favorable environment, reinforcing our global leadership position. In 2009, adverse currency effects and the need for tight risk management may limit growth in the emerging markets. Early signs for the northern hemisphere season are encouraging and we are well placed again to outperform the overall market, enabling us to continue targeting growth in earnings per share in 2009 despite economic uncertainty. We remain confident in the strong fundamentals for agriculture and the outlook for our business, as demonstrated by the continuation of growth investments, our capacity expansion program and the significant dividend increase announced today.”

CROP PROTECTION

_{For a definition of constant exchange rates, see Appendix A.}

Selective Herbicides: major brands AXIAL®, CALLISTO® family, DUAL®/BICEP® MAGNUM, FUSILADE®MAX and TOPIK®.

AXIAL®, our new cereal herbicide, grew rapidly in an expanding cereals market with launches in key European countries and further expansion in NAFTA and Western Europe. The CALLISTO® family of products saw double digit growth with a continuation of its successful roll-out outside the USA. Soybean herbicides staged a resurgence in sales as a result of acreage growth in Latin America and glyphosate-resistance issues in the USA.

Non-selective Herbicides: major brands GRAMOXONE® and TOUCHDOWN®

TOUCHDOWN® sales increased significantly driven by growth in key markets including the USA, Brazil, Argentina and Canada where glyphosate-tolerant acres continued to expand. Sales also benefited from a favorable pricing environment which offset higher sourcing costs. GRAMOXONE® continued to prove its effectiveness in rapid weed burn-down and also benefited from the tightness of glyphosate supply.

Fungicides: major brands ALTO®, AMISTAR®, BRAVO®, REVUS®, RIDOMIL GOLD®, SCORE®, TILT® and UNIX®.

In 2008, we strengthened our world leading position in fungicides in a market characterized by increased usage intensity and growers’ focus on plant performance. Growth in AMISTAR® reflected the success of a variety of combination products used across crops. AMISTAR® is now sold on 120 crops in 100 countries and has proven a yield-boosting effect in addition to excellent disease control. In the USA, fungicide use on corn and wheat grew rapidly, with QUILT® establishing a leadership position in an expanding corn fungicide market. In Latin America, fungicide growth was broad based across the region with PRIORI Xtra® now the leading product in Brazil for the prevention and treatment of soybean rust.

Insecticides: major brands ACTARA®, DURIVO®, FORCE®, KARATE®, PROCLAIM®, VERTIMEC®

ACTARA® continued to grow strongly notably in Latin America. Sales of KARATE® showed strong growth particularly in the USA, where they benefited from a major outbreak of soybean aphids and from new opportunities for mixtures with fungicides. The successful launch of DURIVO® in Indonesia marks a significant step in the strengthening of our rice portfolio. Growth of FORCE® in Europe due to the spread of corn rootworm more than offset a reduction of sales in NAFTA.

Seed Care: major brands AVICTA®, CRUISER®, DIVIDEND®, MAXIM®

In Seed Care, sales increased by one third. The global expansion of CRUISER® led to strong growth in all regions as growers recognized its unique vigor effect in multiple crops. CRUISER® also benefited from higher soybean acres in the USA and a registration in France.

Professional Products: major brands FAFARD®, HERITAGE®, ICON®

Turf and Ornamentals saw strong sales of growing media by Fafard, growth of HERITAGE® in Asia Pacific and the introduction of new products in Latin America. Home Care strengthened its performance in vector control and materials protection.

NAFTA experienced strong sales growth reflecting the expansion of the fungicide market for corn and wheat, strong growth in TOUCHDOWN® and the continuing expansion of Seed Care. AXIAL® achieved excellent penetration in an expanded wheat market.

In Latin America, strong sales growth was driven by acreage expansion and the breadth of our product range. Growers increased their investment in both corn and soybean in Brazil and Argentina. While economic conditions deteriorated in the second half, growers continued to invest in crops and sales also benefited from more favorable pricing.

In Asia Pacific, sales growth came primarily from emerging markets including India, China, Indonesia and Vietnam with growers investing in key crops including rice and vegetables. Improved weather conditions and product launches in Australia resulted in a significant increase in sales.

SEEDS

_{For a definition of constant exchange rates, see Appendix A.}

In the USA, sales of NK® soybean benefited from an acreage shift in favor of soybean and from a further market share gain reflecting yield outperformance. In corn, our proprietary triple stack product under the AGRISURE® brand was successfully launched and incorporation of these traits into our elite germplasm is accelerating. Sales of corn in Europe expanded rapidly, with increased acreage and a broadening of our portfolio across maturities. In Latin America, sales increased significantly in buoyant corn and soybean markets, as customers responded positively to new combinations of GM technology and top germplasm.

Diverse Field Crops: major brands NK® oilseeds, HILLESHÖG® sugar beet

Diverse Field Crops showed strong growth reflecting our leading position in sunflower and increased presence in winter oilseed rape. Eastern European growers in particular are responding to growing demand for healthy oils and have expanded acreage while adopting improved varieties. Sugar beet sales increased with the launch of glyphosate-tolerant varieties in the USA leading to a substantial gain in market share.

Vegetables & Flowers: major brands, Vegetables DULCINEA®,ROGERS®, S&G®, Zeraim Gedera; major brands, Flowers Fischer, Goldsmith, S&G®, Yoder

Strong growth in Vegetables across all regions was supplemented by the consolidation of Zeraim Gedera. Our strong developed market presence is being enhanced by a leadership position in the rapidly growing Latin American market and by increased market penetration in Asia Pacific. In Flowers the main driver was the full year consolidation of Fischer acquired in 2007.

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