Trading Statement

GUS PLC
16 April 2002

Not for distribution in the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan

                                                                   16 April 2002

                                    GUS PLC
                           SECOND HALF TRADING UPDATE

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

John Peace, Group Chief Executive of GUS, said:

'GUS has completed another successful year, with a particularly strong
performance from Argos Retail Group.  This has been despite difficult trading
conditions in some of our markets.  We are looking forward to the coming year
with confidence.'

Experian

% change in sales year on year for the six months to 31 March 2002
                                                                           %
                                                      Total                       Underlying*

Global Experian                                                  5                     2

        Experian UK                                              9                     7
        Experian Rest of World                                  20                    11
    Experian International                                      13                     9

    Experian North America                                       1                    (2)

*   Underlying sales growth excludes acquisitions and divestments and is at
constant exchange rates.

Experian's total worldwide sales for the second half increased by 5%.

Experian International, which accounts for over one third of worldwide sales,
grew total sales by 13% in the second half.   In the UK, underlying sales were
7% up, reflecting good growth in all parts of the business, except Marketing
Information, which saw continued weakness in demand from the financial services
sector.  For Experian Rest of World, underlying sales increased by 11% in the
second half, led by double-digit growth in Credit Solutions and Outsourcing.

Sales in Experian North America were 1% up in the second half of the year and 2%
down on an underlying basis, but this must be viewed against tough comparatives
in the fourth quarter last year.  Credit Information and Credit Solutions sales
increased in the period, led by growth in core credit reports and new products
such as direct-to-consumer, fraud detection and authentication solutions.  As
also reported by other marketing services companies, marketing activity by US
corporate clients, especially in the retail, catalogue and publishing sectors,
remains weak.  Accordingly, sales in Marketing Information, Marketing Solutions
and Outsourcing, which together account for about 40% of sales, were below the
levels of last year.

FARES, the real estate information joint venture, had another strong half,
benefiting from the strength of the re-mortgage market.  Sales of this associate
are not included in Experian's revenues.

The North American business has continued to focus aggressively on cost
efficiencies.  In the year to March 2002, over 700 staff have been made
redundant, representing 12% of the workforce. Restructuring costs of about $11m
are being charged against Experian's operating profit in the year to March 2002.

In a further strengthening of the management team, Deborah Zuccarini, who joined
Experian in 2001, has been appointed President of Marketing Solutions.

The acquisition of ConsumerInfo.com, the leading supplier of online credit
reports, scores and related information to consumers in the United States, was
completed on 2 April 2002.  This acquisition significantly strengthens Experian
North America's position in the direct-to-consumer market and is expected to be
immediately earnings enhancing.

Argos Retail Group

% change in sales year on year for the six months to 31 March 2002
                                                                      %

Argos*  -  total                                                     17
            -  like-for-like                                         13
UK Home Shopping                                                     (1)

*   These figures exclude the impact of Argos Additions and jungle.com.

Against a background of good consumer demand, Argos' strong performance
continued with its Spring/Summer catalogue launched in January.  For the second
half, sales at Argos, excluding Argos Additions and jungle.com, increased by 17%
and by 13% on a like-for-like basis over the same period last year.  Sales were
particularly strong in consumer electronics, electricals, furniture and toys.
Gross margins remained firm.

Argos continues to drive sales through more choice, low prices and increased
convenience. Argos Direct, the delivery-to-home operation, traded strongly, with
sales 60% up in the second half compared to last year.  Argos Direct accounted
for 15% of total Argos sales in the second half - up from 11% last year.

Sales at UK Home Shopping for the second half were 1% lower than last year.
While total sales in agency home shopping were slightly down as planned, average
spend per customer continued to increase.  Sales from direct catalogues,
including Marshall Ward and Abound, showed good levels of growth. Gross margins
were unchanged on last year.

Argos Retail Group continues to invest across its businesses:

-        Argos opened 18 new stores during the financial year, giving 490 stores
at 31 March 2002.  As part of its accelerated store opening programme, it plans
to open about 35 stores this financial year.  New stores should contribute about
4% sales growth in the year to March 2003;

-        Argos Additions has shown continued growth, achieving sales of £67m in
the second half;

-        at the end of March, the number of Argos store card customers had grown
to over 625,000, up from 350,000 at September 2001.  Balances outstanding were
about £105m.  As planned, personal loans were launched in mid February; and

-        e-commerce sales in the second half, including jungle.com, were £98m,
70% higher than last year.

Argos Retail Group expects to be trading against a background of slower growth
in consumer demand in the current financial year.

Reality

Sales to external customers were marginally up in the second half.  Core
logistics sales to third parties were ahead by over 10%.

As previously stated, Reality is reporting into Argos Retail Group from1 April
2002, with Experian International taking responsibility for third party call
centre and related activities, serving predominantly financial services clients.
Further cost efficiency programmes have identified over 300 redundancies, mainly
in managerial and administrative positions.  A £4m charge, associated with the
cost of these redundancies, is being taken against Reality's operating profit in
the year to March 2002.

Burberry

% change in sales year on year for the six months to 31 March 2002

                                                                 %

Total                                                            9
Underlying*                                                      5

* Underlying sales growth is at constant exchange rates, includes Spain and
excludes discontinued Wholesale activities as well as the operations of
Burberry's distributors based in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia which were
acquired on 1 January 2002.

Reported sales at Burberry in the second half were 9% above last year and 5% up
on an underlying basis. This was despite the impact of September 11 that
adversely affected many luxury goods companies.

Retail sales in the second half were slightly up on an underlying basis compared
to the same period last year, with a resilient performance from the US.
Following new store openings in Beverly Hills and Soho, New York during the
second half, a further ten new and replacement stores are planned to open in the
current financial year.  These include flagship stores in New York,
Knightsbridge and Barcelona.

With the Spring/Summer order book now substantially delivered, underlying growth
of 6% in the second half in Burberry's Wholesale operations was in line with
previous indications.  The Wholesale order book for Autumn/Winter 2002 to date
suggests that sales should be broadly in line with those of a year ago.  Within
this, sluggish demand from travel-related clients and the Spanish domestic
market is being offset by strong demand in the US.

Royalty revenue in the second half was 10% ahead at constant exchange rates,
reflecting double-digit volume growth in Japan.

In March 2002, Burberry signed an agreement to acquire its Korean distribution
business.  It expects to complete this acquisition in July 2002.  The initial
cost will be about £25m and the deal is expected to add approximately £5m to
operating profit in its first full financial year.  With this agreement,
Burberry has now taken direct control of the distribution of its core products
in all key international markets, with the exception of Japan where its renewed
licensing arrangements are adding significantly to profits.

It remains the Group's intention to arrange a partial IPO for Burberry by June
2002, subject to market conditions.

Future announcements

GUS will announce its preliminary results on 29 May 2002.  The AGM and First
Quarter Trading Update will be on 24 July 2002.

Enquiries:

GUS              David Tyler             Finance Director               Tel: [phone]
                 Fay Dodds               Investor Relations

Finsbury         Rupert Younger                                         Tel: [phone]
                 Rollo Head

GUS announcements are available on its web site www.gusplc.com.

This Trading Update is not for distribution in the United States, Canada,
Australia or Japan. It is not an offer of securities for sale in the United
States, Canada, Australia or Japan.

Shares in Burberry will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933
and will not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an
exemption from registration. No public offering of securities will be made in
the United States.

Certain statements made in this Trading Update 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 results to differ materially
from any expected future results in forward looking statements.



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