Trading Statement

GUS PLC
16 April 2003



16 April 2003


                                    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, reflecting the strength of our three
main businesses. We expect the outcome to be around the top end of market
expectations, which will make this the third consecutive year of solid profit
growth for the Group. Sales at Argos exceeded £3bn for the first time, while
Experian and Burberry have again also grown sales by well over 10%.


We look forward with confidence to the current year, while remaining mindful of
the potential impact of economic and political uncertainty.'


Experian


% change in sales year on year for the six months to 31 March 2003

                                          Total        Total at constant
                                                          exchange rates
Experian North America                        5                       16

   Experian UK                               14                       14
   Experian Rest of World                    18                       11
Experian International                       16                       13

Global Experian                               9                       15


Experian has performed very well in the second half. Its total worldwide sales
increased by 15% at constant exchange rates, again showing double-digit growth
in both North America and International, as it did in the first half of the
year.


Experian North America


In dollars, Experian North America increased sales by 16% in the second half.
Both the Credit and the Marketing businesses showed growth. ConsumerInfo.com,
which was acquired in April 2002, contributed 12% of this growth. Had its sales
been included for the comparative period last year, Experian's dollar sales
would have increased by 8%.


Excluding ConsumerInfo.com, there was continued growth in Credit Information and
Solutions, with encouraging performances from risk, scoring and fraud solutions.
Direct-to-consumer sales (including about $60m from ConsumerInfo.com) increased
in the second half by more than 80% to $71m, while the number of paid members
exceeded 1.4m at March 2003 - up from 0.8m a year ago.


The performance of Marketing Information and Solutions has been on an improving
trend throughout the past year despite difficult market conditions. Sales in the
second half as a whole were 4% ahead of last year, led by good performances in
business marketing, list enhancement and database management.


FARES, the real estate information joint venture, had another good half,
benefiting from the continued strength in mortgage refinancing activity.


Experian International


Experian International, which accounts for approximately 40% of worldwide
revenue, continued its long record of strong sales growth. Sales increased by
13% in the second half at constant exchange rates, with acquisitions net of
disposals contributing 2% of this growth.


There was underlying double-digit sales growth in both Credit Information and
Solutions (with a particularly strong performance from business information and
account processing) and in Marketing Information and Solutions. Outsourcing
continued to be affected by reduced processing activity in France.


Nordic Info Group, the market-leading consumer and business information company
in Denmark and Norway acquired in January 2003, has met all expectations in its
first two months.


Argos Retail Group (ARG)


% change in sales year on year

Six months to 31 March 2003                                        14
Argos *       - total                                               7
              - like-for-like

UK Home Shopping **                                                (8)

Two months to 28 February 2003
Homebase ***   - total                                              4
               - like-for-like                                      2

*  These figures exclude Argos Additions and jungle.com

** This figure excludes Family Hampers, which was sold in July 2002. Its sales
in the second half of last year were £46m

*** See appendix for historical quarterly sales growth at Homebase


Argos


With 14% sales growth in the second half, annual sales at Argos (excluding Argos
Additions and jungle.com) exceeded £3bn for the first time. Against a background
of consumer spending growth that slowed as the period progressed, Argos again
outperformed in its market. Like-for-like sales were up 7%, with particularly
strong trading in January. New stores again performed well, also contributing 7%
to sales growth. At 31 March 2003, Argos operated 523 stores, having opened 21
in the second half of the year.


Sales were notably strong in consumer electronics, electricals, mobile phones
and bedding and textiles. Argos Direct, the delivery to home operation, grew
sales by 29% and now accounts for 17% of sales compared to 15% in the second
half last year. Gross margins at Argos were firm.


Sales in Argos Additions grew by 17% compared to the second half last year, with
improvements in merchandising and the credit offer driving performance in the
Spring/Summer catalogue.


UK Home Shopping


The market for agency home shopping has remained difficult. Sales at UK Home
Shopping for the second half were 8% lower than last year despite improved
service levels in the latter part of the period. The rundown of peripheral
businesses accounted for over 1% of this decline. However, growth in direct
catalogues continued to be strong. Gross margins at UK Home Shopping were in
line with last year.


For the past three years, UK Home Shopping has been going through a process of
managed decline. In the second half, further actions were taken to reduce the
cost base. About 250 redundancies were announced during the period and some
poorly performing activities were closed or downsized.


Homebase


The integration of Homebase is proceeding well and is on plan in the run-up to
its key Easter trading period. As expected, it generated an operating profit of
slightly more than £100m for the twelve months to 28 February 2003.

Homebase's year-end has been moved to the end of February, as already announced,
to avoid distortions relating to the timing of Easter and its associated
promotions and trading patterns. January and February are seasonally quiet
months for Homebase. In its financial year to 31 March 2003, GUS will therefore
consolidate about £2m of operating profit from Homebase for the period from
acquisition on 20 December 2002 to 28 February 2003. This performance is in line
with profits in the same period last year.


Sales in the two months to 28 February 2003 increased by 4% in total or 2%
like-for-like. This was against very strong sales growth in the same period last
year (up 16% like-for-like), when new furniture ranges were introduced. At 31
March 2003, Homebase operated 273 stores, of which 36 had mezzanine floors.
Gross margins were in line with last year.


E-commerce


Sales via the internet in ARG (excluding Homebase) were over £140m in the second
half, up by nearly 50% compared to the same period last year. Excluding
Homebase, e-commerce now accounts for over 5% of ARG sales.


Burberry


Following the partial IPO of Burberry Group plc, GUS retains a 77% stake in
Burberry. The following is an abridged version of Burberry's Trading Update
released on 15 April 2003.


% change in sales year on year for the six months to 31 March 2003

Total                                                         22
Total at constant exchange rates                              24


Total sales in the period increased by 22%, or by 15% on an underlying basis
(i.e. at constant exchange rates and excluding the impact of the Asia
acquisitions in January and July 2002).


Total Retail sales increased by 55%, or by 30% on an underlying basis, with the
latter driven by contributions from newly opened stores and sales gains at
existing stores.


Over the full Spring/Summer 2003 season, Burberry continues to expect high
single digit wholesale volume growth. During the second half, total Wholesale
sales increased by 4%, or by 6% on an underlying basis.


Total Licensing revenue in the second half increased by 4%, or by 9% on an
underlying basis. As anticipated, this gain primarily reflects modest volume
gains and increases in certain royalty rates in Japan. Strong sales increases by
global product licensees also contributed to this gain.


Future announcements


GUS will announce its preliminary results for the year to 31 March 2003 on 28
May 2003. Its AGM and First Quarter Trading Update will be on 23 July 2003.


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 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.


APPENDIX


Homebase - sales growth by quarter in financial year 2003


As already announced, Homebase's year-end has been moved to the end of February
to avoid distortions relating to the timing of Easter and its associated
promotions and trading patterns. Its sales and profits will be consolidated into
the GUS Financial Statements on the basis shown below. To provide more
information to the market, the Homebase sales performance for the year just
ended is set out below. Total and like-for-like sales growth for these periods
will be reported in future Trading Updates.



Sales growth %                                            FY2003

                                                 Total           Like-for-like
4 months to 30 June 2002                             5                       4
3 months to 30 September 2002                        9                       9
7 months to 30 September 2002                        6                       6
3 months to 31 December 2002                        (2)                     (4)
2 months to 28 February 2003                         4                       2
5 months to 28 February 2003                         1                      (2)
12 months to 28 February 2003                        4                       3








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