Trading Statement

26 January 2009

                        St Ives plc - Trading Statement                        

As the Group noted on 5 January 2009, the general economic climate is
uncertain, visibility is extremely short and rising input costs coupled with
volatility in demand is increasing the pressure on margins. Against this
backdrop the prospects for the Group have deteriorated and uncertainty within
the markets that the Group supplies has continued to increase. This, together
with a further anticipated downturn in advertising and marketing expenditure,
has significantly increased pressure on margins within certain Group
businesses.

Volume within the magazine market has become significantly more volatile and
overall paginations are expected to continue declining due to further
reductions in advertising spend. This has resulted in increased pressure on
pricing and therefore margins. It has not been possible to entirely offset this
effect through winning new titles and making incremental efficiency
improvements. Regrettably, it has therefore been necessary for us to review
manning levels across our magazine sites and consultation is underway regarding
proposals to reduce headcount by approximately 100. Although there has recently
been some capacity reduction and a competitor closure, this has not yet had a
positive effect on market prices.

Demand for direct response, commercial and exhibitions and outdoor media has
also fallen and volatility has increased due to the discretionary nature of
what is principally marketing expenditure. While it has been possible to
partially counter these effects, through the benefits gained from our recent
Royal Mail and Sainsbury's contract wins along with our continued success with
cross-selling to existing group customers, net margins have declined. There has
also been some manpower reduction in these areas, which has reduced headcount
by approximately 70.

Oversupply in the face of weak demand in all these markets has led a number of
our competitors to pursue uneconomic pricing policies, thus putting further
pressure on margins.

We continue to benefit from our market leading position and reputation for
delivering unrivalled customer service in our books business. However, demand
has been impacted by the demise of EUK in December, which was the prime
distributor of books to the major supermarkets, and volumes continue to come
under pressure.

Demand for point-of-sale products has been buoyant, although late volume
changes have made efficient utilisation a challenge and margins have suffered.
Activity levels have, in line with normal seasonal patterns, decreased
following the pre-Christmas period and visibility remains short.

Overall, while we continue to benefit from our strategy of selling the whole
range of the Group's services to both new and existing customers and from our
continued focus on costs, we are not fully offsetting the effect of weakening
demand and, increasingly, new sales can only be secured at more competitive
prices.

The Group's balance sheet remains strong and the cash consideration of
$34.0 million associated with the recent disposal of our US division will be
used to reduce Group indebtedness.

In light of the trading conditions outlined above, it is expected that the
results for the year ending 31 July 2009 will be substantially below the
Board's previous expectations. However, despite the current economic
environment, the Group's market position remains strong and the business is
well invested. We expect that the management actions outlined above and our
continued focus on enhanced customer service will enable us to withstand the
challenges presented by the current trading environment and position the Group
well to meet any improvement in the economic outlook.

For further information please contact:

St Ives plc                     020 7928 8844
Brian Edwards, Chief Executive
Matt Armitage, Finance Director

Smithfield                      020 7360 4900
John Antcliffe
Rupert Trefgarne