1st Quarter Results

GUS PLC
20 July 2005

20 July 2005

                                    GUS plc
                          First Quarter Trading Update

GUS plc, the retail and business services group, today issues its regular update
on trading.

John Peace, Group Chief Executive of GUS, said:

'We are delighted with Experian's strong start to the year, with sales up 27% at
constant exchange rates, building on its three year record of double-digit sales
growth. Although the UK retail environment remains very challenging, we are
confident that all our businesses have clear strategies to deliver sustainable
long-term growth.'


Argos Retail Group (ARG)

% change in sales year-on-year
Three months to 30 June 2005                                  
                                                             %
Argos         - total                                        2                     
              - like-for-like                               (4)

Four months to 30 June 20051   
                                             
Homebase      - total                                        1                                                       
              - like-for-like                               (2)
-------------------------                                 ----------------------
1 Homebase's year-end is the end of February to avoid distortions relating to
the timing of Easter.

In the first quarter of the financial year, the non-food, non-clothing market in
the UK continued to decline on a like-for-like basis. Argos and Homebase cannot
be immune from this downturn in demand or from the higher cost inflation that
retailers are facing. However, against this challenging background, both Argos
and Homebase outperformed their markets in the first quarter.

Argos
Argos increased its sales by 2% in total in the first quarter. Of this, new
stores contributed 6% while like-for-like sales declined by 4%. At 30 June 2005,
Argos traded from 601 stores, with nine new stores opened in the quarter.

Compared to the same period last year, there were good performances from
consumer electronics, white goods and toys, while housewares, garden ranges and
jewellery were difficult. Gross margin was in line with last year, despite an
adverse product mix and an increased take-up by consumers of promotional offers.

Argos Direct, the delivery to home operation, grew its sales by 6% in the first
quarter and accounted for 26% of Argos' revenue. Sales via the Internet
increased by 24%, representing 7% of total revenue. A further 6% of total sales
was derived from Argos' 'Check and Reserve' multi-channel ordering facilities.

The acquisition of 33 Index stores will complete tomorrow (21 July 2005), when
the leases on the majority of the stores will transfer to Argos, enabling them
to be re-fitted and re-branded during August and September. However, as already
stated, the transitional costs will reduce profit by about £8m in the first
half.

The Autumn/Winter 2005 catalogue will launch on 30 July. Compared to the 13,200
lines in the standard catalogue last year, this will offer about 17,700 lines to
all customers as the Argos Extra extended ranges are made available in all
stores and channels for the first time. Approximately 160 stores will now
stock-in the additional lines, with the remaining stores offering customers the
option to order-in the additional products for collection later from store.

Homebase
Much progress has been made in the last two years in improving the shopping
experience at Homebase in areas such as customer service, stock availability,
new ranges and better pricing. Although this requires continuing investment,
these initiatives are enabling Homebase to take share in what remains a very
difficult market.

In the four months to 30 June 2005, sales at Homebase increased by 1% in total.
Of this, new stores contributed 3% while like-for-like sales declined by 2%. At
30 June 2005, Homebase traded from 288 stores, of which 122 had a mezzanine
floor.

Certain core DIY ranges including tiling and flooring performed well, as did
kitchens, furniture and horticulture. Other seasonal garden areas, mainly garden
furniture, were weak. Gross margin was in line with last year.

Experian

% change in sales year-on-year for the three months to 30 June 2005
Continuing activities only           At actual exchange   At constant 
                                          rates %           exchange rates %
Experian North America                      31                    33
Experian International                      22                    21                          
Global Experian                             26                    27

Experian has delivered an exceptionally strong performance in the first quarter
of the financial year. Total sales increased by 27% at constant exchange rates,
driven by both organic growth (13%) and the contribution from acquisitions
(14%). This performance results from continuing investment in new products,
markets and businesses, reinforcing the strong market position of Experian.


Experian North America
In dollars, Experian North America's sales from continuing activities increased
by 33% in the first quarter, or 20% excluding corporate acquisitions. There was
double-digit organic growth in nearly all business units.

Credit sales were helped by strong market demand in credit profiles and
prescreen activity, as well as contract wins in value added-products such as
triggers, account management and scoring products. Strong organic sales growth
from email marketing, database management and the automotive business
underpinned the performance of Marketing. Experian has this month acquired
Credit Data Services Inc, its largest affiliate bureau, based in Florida.

Experian Interactive saw further exceptional sales growth of about 50% excluding
acquisitions. This was driven by the success of new products in both Consumer
Direct and MetaReward, as well as increasing Internet usage by consumers.
LowerMyBills.com and Affiliate Fuel, which were acquired in the first quarter,
are trading in line with expectations.

The third phase of the roll out of the free credit report service, as required
under the FACT Act, took effect from 1 June 2005. The cost recovery charge
contributed nearly 3% to total sales growth in the quarter.

Experian International
Experian International, which accounts for about 45% of Experian's worldwide
revenue, grew sales from continuing activities in the first quarter by 21% at
constant exchange rates. Of this, 15% came from acquisitions, mainly QAS, a
leading supplier of address management software acquired in October 2004, which
is trading to plan. This business is winning significant contracts with the
public sector, a key growth opportunity.

Excluding acquisitions, Experian International showed good growth in Credit,
Marketing and Outsourcing. There was a strong performance in UK consumer credit
information from traditional financial services clients, as well as increasing
activity in authentication for the public sector. UK business credit
information, Southern and Eastern Europe and email marketing were also strong.

Burberry
GUS has a 66% stake in Burberry Group plc. The following summarises the latter's
Trading Update released on 13 July 2005.

% change in sales year-on-year for the three months ended 30 June 2005
                                                         %
At actual exchange rates                                10            
At constant exchange rates                               9

Total sales at Burberry in the first quarter increased by 9% at constant
exchange rates. Burberry has agreed to acquire its Taiwan distributors, who
operate 12 retail stores and concessions across Taiwan, for approximately £9m.

Retail sales increased by 9%, driven by contributions from newly opened and
refurbished stores and marginal gains at existing stores. Burberry continues to
anticipate broadly flat first half wholesale sales, excluding the impact of the
Taiwan acquisition. Wholesale revenue in the first quarter increased by 5%.
Total licensing revenues increased 26% at constant exchange rates, reflecting
increased royalties from global product licensees, led by fragrance.

GUS today announces that the demerger of its remaining 66% stake in Burberry is
expected to take place in December 2005 after the release of Burberry's Interim
Results.

Future announcements
GUS will announce its Interim Results for the six months to 3O September 2005 on
17 November 2005. The First Half Trading Update will be on 12 October 2005.
All financial statements presented by GUS are now prepared under International
Financial Reporting Standards.

Enquiries

GUS
David Tyler                 Finance Director                       020 7495 0070
Fay Dodds                   Director of Investor Relations

Finsbury
Rupert Younger                                                     020 7251 3801
Rollo Head

GUS announcements are available on its website, www.gusplc.com. There will be a
conference call to discuss this update at 3pm today, with a recording available
later on the GUS website.

Certain statements made in this announcement are forward looking statements.
Such statements are based on current expectations and are subject to a number of
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ
materially from any expected future events or results referred to in these
forward looking statements.

Any shares to be distributed in the proposed demerger of Burberry Group plc have
not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933 (the
'Securities Act') and may not be offered or sold within the United States absent
registration under the Securities Act or an exemption from registration. No
public offering of such shares will be made in the United States.






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