Interim Management Statement

Close Brothers Group PLC
08 May 2008


CLOSE BROTHERS GROUP plc

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
For the three months ended 30 April 2008

Close Brothers Group plc ("Close Brothers" or "the group"), the independent
investment bank, today issues its Interim Management Statement ("IMS") in
accordance with FSA Disclosure and Transparency Rule 4.3. This statement relates
to the quarter from 1 February 2008 to 30 April 2008.

Group and Divisional performance
Against a background of general market uncertainty and particularly challenging
conditions in the credit markets, the group's performance continues to be
resilient.

In the Banking division we continue to see good demand for our specialised
lending services and achieved steady growth in our loan book. During the period
we have seen no significant increase in bad debts.

Market conditions remained testing for our Asset Management division and funds
remained steady at £8.9bn. As expected, raising new funds and launching new
products have been difficult. However, the diversity of the division has helped
to mitigate the impact of volatile markets.

In our Securities division Winterflood's performance remains consistent with the
first half year. However, in Germany market conditions have deteriorated for
Seydler and we do not foresee any improvement in the current financial year.

For Corporate Finance the market remains somewhat muted despite a stronger Q3
and ongoing good performance in Europe. We have not yet seen any uplift in the
restructuring market.

Liquidity
The group's conservative approach to balance sheet management means that the
Banking division remains well capitalised and soundly financed. Deposits have
continued to grow and we have a range of long-term committed facilities. Looking
forward we continue to practise prudence and the rate of future loan book growth
will be determined by our continued ability to raise similar facilities.

Notable events
On 27 March 2008 the group announced the acquisition of two niche lending
businesses, Commercial Acceptances Group, a leading UK short-term and bridging
lender, and Amber Credit, a specialist insurance premium finance business, with
a combined loan book value of £145 million, for a combined premium to net assets
of circa £9 million. These businesses are expected on average to generate
returns on gross assets in line with the returns produced by Close Brothers'
Banking division. Accordingly the transactions will be earnings enhancing in FY
2009.

As part of the ongoing reorganisation of the business that we outlined at the
time of the Interim Results there have been some senior management changes. On
10 April 2008 Martin Andrew was appointed as Chief Executive of the Asset
Management division. He will also join the Group Management Board. Jonathan
Sieff is leaving the business.

In a separate announcement today, the Board has announced that David Pusinelli,
the Group Development Director will be stepping down from the Board. He will
leave the business on 31 July 2008.


Outlook
The outlook broadly remains as it was at the end of our first half.

We expect that uncertain market conditions will continue to affect performance
in our Securities and Corporate Finance divisions.

We take comfort from the broad spread of our asset management activities
although we expect raising new funds and attracting new assets in this climate
to remain difficult. We continue to expect a solid second half performance from
our Banking division and we will be on guard for any possible increase in bad
debts as a result of the deteriorating economic background.





Enquiries to:

Close Brothers
Colin Keogh         020 7655 3100
Justin Clark        020 7655 3100

Maitland
Emma Burdett        020 7379 5151
Anthony Silverman   020 7379 5151

Further information on Close Brothers can be found on the company's website at
www.closebrothers.co.uk








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