Gemplus appoints Frans Spaargaren new CFO and Executive VP

Yves Guillaumot, former CFO and Executive VP is leaving the Company

Luxembourg - May 14 2004 - Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP), the world's leading provider of smart card enabled solutions, today announced the appointment of a new Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Frans Spaargaren, effective June 1, 2004. 

Frans Spaargaren replaces Yves Guillaumot, who, after 6 years in Gemplus, will leave the Company to pursue other interests. 

"I want to thank Yves for the significant contributions he has made toward the turnaround of Gemplus, and wish him all the best for his future endeavours", said Alex Mandl, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gemplus. "We are very pleased to welcome Frans to the Senior Team of Gemplus. Frans brings to Gemplus a unique blend of financial skills and experience along with extensive international know-how."

Frans Spaargaren, age 48, of Dutch nationality, was formerly Executive Vice President of Philips International, with responsibility for its joint venture operations. Before that he was CFO of Philips Components. Prior to that he was with Varta Batteries, where he held various financial and general management positions and operational experience.

About Gemplus 

Gemplus International S.A.(Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP) is the world's leading player in the smart card industry in both revenue and total shipments (source 2002: Gartner Dataquest, Frost & Sullivan, Datamonitor.) It has the largest R&D team, unrivalled experience, and an outstanding track record of technological innovation.

Gemplus offers an exceptional range of portable, personalized solutions that bring security and convenience to people's lives. These include Mobile Telecommunications, Public Telephony, Banking, Retail, Transport, Identity, WLAN, Pay-TV, e-government, access control, and a wealth of other applications.

Gemplus' revenue in 2003 was 749 million Euros.

www.gemplus.com

For more information, contact:

Remi Calvet 
VP Corporate Communications, Gemplus, 
Tel: +33 44 2 36 60 76 
Email: remi.calvet@gemplus.com

Celine Berthier
Gemplus Investor Relations
Tel: +41 22 544 5065
Email: celine.berthier@gemplus.com 

Fineo
Tel: +33 (0) 1 56 33 32 31
Email: gemplus@fineo.com

©2004 Gemplus International S.A. All rights reserved. Gemplus, the Gemplus logo, GemXpresso, MySIMCopier, Gemsense Pro, m-Banxafe, and Your Passport to the Digital Age are trademarks and service marks of Gemplus S.A. and are registered in certain countries. All other trademarks and service marks, whether registered or not in specific countries, are the property of their respective owners.