Trading Statement

GUS PLC
14 October 2004


14 October 2004


                                    GUS plc
                           First Half 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:

'GUS has delivered another strong performance in all our businesses in the first
half. We have also successfully completed the partial IPO of the Lewis Group in
South Africa and made additional infill acquisitions for Experian. Despite
continuing challenges in some of our markets, we remain on track for a further
year of good progress.'


Argos Retail Group

% change in sales year-on-year
Six months to 30 September 2004                                           %
                                                                         
Argos           - total                                                  13
                - like-for-like                                           7

Seven months to 30 September 2004

Homebase        - total                                                   6
                - like-for-like                                           4


Argos
Argos again outperformed its market in the first half of the year. It increased
total sales by 13%, with new stores contributing 6% of this growth.
Like-for-like sales increased by 7%. Consumer electronics, photography, white
goods and leisure categories performed particularly well.

Gross margin was in line with the previous year as gains from supply chain
initiatives were again re-invested in lower prices for consumers. Prices on
re-included lines in the Autumn/Winter 2004 catalogue are approximately 5% lower
than last year.

At 30 September 2004, Argos had 570 stores after opening 14 in the first half.
Argos Extra is now available in 146 stores, offering 3,800 more lines than the
13,200 in the main catalogue. Argos Direct, the delivery to home operation, grew
sales by 30% and accounted for 24% of Argos' sales in the first half.

Homebase
Homebase continues to make good progress in improving its customer offer. Sales
in the seven month period to 30 September 2004 increased by 6% with new stores
contributing 2% of this growth. Like-for-like sales increased by 4%. Strong
performances in kitchens, bathrooms and tiling continued and there were good
uplifts from new ranges in areas such as paints and power tools. Gross margin
was in line with the previous year, as supply chain gains funded lower prices
and increased seasonal promotions.

At 30 September 2004, Homebase had 283 stores having opened five in the first
half. The number of stores with mezzanine floors increased by 21 during the
period to a total of 88.


Experian

% change in sales year-on-year for the six months to 30 September 2004
Continuing activities only      At actual exchange           At constant 
                                     rates %                exchange rates %

Experian North America                 3                           15
Experian International                14                           16
Global Experian                        7                           15

For the fifth consecutive six-month period, Experian delivered double-digit
growth, with total worldwide sales from continuing activities up by 15% at
constant exchange rates.

Experian North America

In dollars, Experian North America grew sales from continuing activities in the
first half by 15%, of which corporate acquisitions contributed 8%. The
anticipated slowdown in the mortgage refinancing market reduced Experian North
America's total sales growth by 4% in the period.

Excluding corporate acquisitions, Credit achieved mid single-digit growth. There
was particular strength in Consumer Direct (which now has 2.0m subscribers to
its credit monitoring services) and continued growth in value-added solutions in
areas such as on-line notification, fraud and scoring/analytics. Sales growth in
Marketing continued to improve, especially in database management and e-mail
solutions. Strength in the retail and financial sectors offset some continued
weakness in the catalogue sector.

Experian International
Experian International, which accounts for about 45% of Experian's worldwide
revenue, grew sales from continuing activities by 16% at constant exchange rates
in the first half. Of this, 7% came from acquisitions.

Credit sales saw further double-digit growth in the first half, led by continued
strong performances in consumer information in the UK and Spain, in business
information services in France and in decision solutions throughout the region.
Marketing showed good year-on-year increases, particularly in
business-to-business marketing and the insurance sector. Experian's continuing
outsourcing operations in France also achieved good organic growth.

Burberry
GUS has a 66% stake in Burberry. The following is an abridged version of
Burberry's Trading Update released on 13 October 2004.

% change in sales year-on-year for the six months to 30 September 2004
                                                            %
At actual exchange rates                                    8
At constant exchange rates                                 14


Total revenues at Burberry in the first half increased by 14% at constant
exchange rates.


Retail sales increased by 12% at constant exchange rates, driven by newly opened
stores, with a marginal contribution from existing stores. Wholesale revenue,
which accounted for approximately 57% of sales in the first half, increased by
13% at constant exchange rates. On the basis of orders received to date,
Burberry anticipates mid to high single-digit wholesale growth for the Spring/
Summer 2005 season. Licensing revenues increased by 31% at constant exchange
rates, with approximately half of this increase driven by gains in Japan and
half driven by other licences, especially in fragrances where Burberry has
entered into a new licence with its existing partner Inter Parfums SA.

The lock-up arrangement that GUS entered into when it sold Burberry shares last
year expires on 18 November. GUS has no current intention to sell further
Burberry shares following the expiry of this arrangement and will continue to
assess its holding as part of the strategic review process announced in May
2004.

Future announcements

GUS will announce its interim results for the six months to 30 September 2004 on
18 November 2004. The Third Quarter Trading Update will be on 13 January 2005.


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.








                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
              DLVLIS