Statement Regarding Liberty Surf Groupe

Kingfisher PLC
13 January 2000

                                       
                                       
                                       

                    Announcement by Liberty Surf Groupe SA


Kingfisher  draws attention to the attached announcement by  Liberty  Surf  in
France at 1100 (CET) on 13 January 2000.

Liberty  Surf is one of Europe's premier internet providers and  45  per  cent
owned by Kingfisher.





For further information

Kingfisher plc                             [phone]

Website address                            www.kingfisher.co.uk

Media Enquiries
Gwen Gober, Director of Corporate Affairs  [phone]

Broker and Institutional Enquiries
Keith Williams, Director of Investor Relations
                                           + 44 (0) 20 7725 5776

France
Graham Fairbank, Head of Corporate Communications
                                           + 33 1 43 18 52 26



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
13 January 2000


LIBERTY  SURF MAKES SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS TOWARD ITS GOAL OF BECOMING  EUROPE'S
PREMIER INTERNET PROVIDER

During  a  press  conference held in Paris on 13 January  2000,  Liberty  Surf
announced  significant progress in its subscriber base  and  market  position,
confirming  the  success and potential of the free Internet  concept  that  it
pioneered  in  France.   It also announced key developments  in  its  external
growth programme.

CONFIRMED SUCCESS OF THE FREE INTERNET ACCESS CONCEPT :  DRAMATIC INCREASE  IN
SUBSCRIPTIONS

In  the  eight months since the launch of its service (27 April 1999), Liberty
Surf  has  climbed  to a leading position among Internet access  providers  in
France, with nearly 610,000 subscribers, 813,209 e-mail addresses created  and
120  million minutes of telephone communications logged. It is now the largest
challenger  to France Telecom and has confirmed its substantial  lead  as  the
country's  top-ranking  provider  of free Internet  access.   This  result  is
principally  attributable to three factors.  First, Liberty  Surf's  strategic
choice  of  providing free Internet access, which it pioneered in  France  and
which  is  becoming  the  European  norm.   Second,  its  policy  of  pursuing
diversified  partnerships offering Internet users rich content  and  effective
service.   Finally,  a  powerful marketing strategy  based  in  particular  on
alliances  with  several  large retailers, including Liberty  Surf's  founding
shareholders.

PURSUIT OF EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY :  EXTERNAL GROWTH

Building  on  its  successful growth in France, Liberty  Surf  has  also  been
pursuing its strategy of becoming an international full-service player in  the
Internet  and  telecom industries.  Following its acquisitions of  the  Nomade
search engine, the RESpublica chat line provider and AXS Telecom, Liberty Surf
has  today announced the purchase of a stake in X-Stream (see note).  X-Stream
is a pioneer in free Internet access in the UK and currently ranks third among
the  UK's Internet service providers with 500,000 subscribers.  Since  October
1999,  X-Stream  has  also been operating in Sweden, Norway  and  Denmark  and
already has 70,000 subscribers across Scandinavia.

FUNDING INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT : EVALUATING A POSSIBLE IPO

In  line  with  its  commitment to become a leader in  the  European  Internet
market,  Liberty Surf plans to continue the acquisition programme it began  in
1999.   Like many of its competitors, Liberty Surf is considering tapping  the
capital  markets in order to accelerate its international growth.  To evaluate
this  option,  Liberty Surf has asked Deutsche Bank to  study  the  terms  and
conditions  entailed  in listing its shares on a French regulated  market.  At
present,  Europ@web  and  Kingfisher each hold approximately  45%  of  Liberty
Surf's shares.


Note:  Initial investment of $5 million US for 10% of the share capital of  X-
Stream