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                                  PRESS RELEASE

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                CONTACT:

CompX International Inc.                              Joseph S. Compofelice
16825 Northchase Drive                                Chairman, President & CEO
Houston, Texas 77060                                  Tel.  281-423-3303


                    COMPX DECLARES REGULAR QUARTERLY DIVIDEND

         HOUSTON,  TEXAS . . . July  27,  2000 . . .  CompX  International  Inc.
(NYSE:  CIX) announced  today that its board of directors,  at its July meeting,
declared  CompX's  regular  quarterly  dividend  of twelve  and  one-half  cents
($0.125) per share on its class A and class B common stock, payable on September
29, 2000 to  stockholders  of record at the close of business on  September  19,
2000.

         CompX is a leading  manufacturer of ergonomic computer support systems,
precision ball bearing slides and security products.

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