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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 INITIAL REGULAR QUARTERLY DIVIDEND


     HOUSTON,   TEXAS. . . December  15,  1999 . . . CompX  International  Inc.
(NYSE:  CIX)  announced  today  that its  board of  directors,  at its  December
meeting,  declared  CompX's  first  regular  quarterly  dividend  of twelve  and
one-half  cents  ($0.125)  per share on its  class A and  class B common  stock,
payable on December 31, 1999 to  stockholders of record at the close of business
on December 27, 1999.

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

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