Trading Statement

Reed International PLC
Elsevier NV
6 December 2001





                                 News Release

        Issued on behalf of Reed International P.L.C. and Elsevier NV


                                                               6 December 2001



REED ELSEVIER PROVIDES UPDATE ON TRADING AND REAFFIRMS ITS FINANCIAL TARGETS


Reed Elsevier today reaffirmed that it is on track to deliver double digit
adjusted earnings per share growth at constant exchange rates this year.  This
is despite the deterioration in global economic conditions which is
particularly impacting Business to Business markets.  The Science & Medical,
Legal and Education markets remain largely unaffected, although not wholly
immune.



The strength of the Euro relative to sterling this year on last year will have
a marginally adverse impact on the Elsevier adjusted EPS at reported exchange
rates and a corresponding positive effect for Reed International PLC.
(Adjusted EPS is stated before amortisation of goodwill and intangible assets
and exceptional items).



The performance trends in Reed Elsevier's businesses are as follows:



The Science business continues to perform well.  Subscription renewal rates
for the Elsevier Science business continue to improve and will meet the
targets set this year.  Penetration of the ScienceDirect service is now 64% of
the subscriber base by value.  Online usage is growing strongly and sales of
new information services are going well.



The Harcourt STM business is performing as expected.  As noted in the Interim
Statement, some business momentum was lost by the drawn out acquisition
process, but the plans and resources are now in place to accelerate the
development of the business. The integration with Elsevier Science is well
advanced.



In Legal, the strong progress seen in the first half in the turnaround of the
US business has continued.  In particular, online revenue growth momentum
continues in North American Legal Markets as the investments made in upgrading
and expanding products, sales and marketing pay off in the market.  Operating
margins this year are expected to improve, reflecting both the revenue growth
and the stabilisation of investment spend following the major ramp up in the
last two years.  Although corporate and federal markets have seen some
softness in the second half due to a slowdown in transactional volumes, the
nexis online business continues to make good progress.  Outside the US, the
legal businesses continue to perform satisfactorily with particularly strong
growth in online sales in the UK.



In Education, the Harcourt K-12 Schools Education and Testing businesses are
having a good year.  Harcourt has again outperformed the market and is the
overall leader in winning new state adoption revenues.  The Testing business
has also seen strong growth from the expansion of state testing contracts.
The Reed Educational and Professional Publishing business has seen continued
good growth from new publishing to meet curriculum changes in UK Secondary
Schools.



Business-to-Business publishing continues to be impacted by the progressive
weakening of global economic conditions in the second half of the year
exacerbated by the events of September 11 which particularly affected US
markets.  Aggressive action has been taken to cut costs further.  The focus
has however also been kept on building market share, whilst maintaining
yields.  This has been achieved through strengthening sales and marketing
activities and improving product quality.  Online sales continue to grow
strongly.  The Exhibitions business is having a solid year, although it was
impacted immediately in the aftermath of September 11 with four shows
cancelled because of restrictions on travel.



The Business division revenues and operating profits are as a result now
expected to be somewhat down (less than 5% for revenues; slightly more for
operating profits) on the prior year, ignoring acquisitions and disposals.  It
is expected that this will represent significant outperformance of the
Business-to-Business market, reflecting share growth, the sector and
geographic spread of the business, and the market leading positions of the
titles and exhibitions.



Turning to next year, Reed Elsevier remains committed to its target of double
digit earnings per share growth at constant currencies for Reed International
and Elsevier despite the continuing difficult economic environment.  This
recognises the particular resilience and continuing success of the Science &
Medical, Legal and Education businesses and the cost actions taken to mitigate
revenue weakness in Business-to-Business, as well as the full benefit of the
Harcourt acquisition.  The US education market will be less robust than this
year, largely because of the timing of large state adoptions, but another year
of outperformance can be expected from Harcourt.



The overall results for the first half of 2002 are likely to be a little lower
than this year due to comparison against a strong first half in 2001 in the
Business division.  The second half should deliver the expected growth for the
year given the less demanding comparison in the Business division and the
second half weighting of sales in the Harcourt businesses.



Commenting, Crispin Davis, Chief Executive Officer, said:



'We continue to execute well against our strategic milestones and I can
reaffirm, despite a challenging economic environment, our commitment to
deliver against our two key 2002 financial targets of above market revenue
growth and double digit earnings growth.  Our Science, Legal and Education
businesses are performing well and, although the Business-to-Business markets
are clearly disappointing, we believe the challenges to be manageable.  The
Harcourt businesses acquired in July are exceeding our expectations.'



The Reed Elsevier Preliminary Statement on the 2001 financial year will be
issued on 21 February 2002.






This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.  These statements concern
future matters, such as the features and functions of, and markets for,
products and services offered by Reed Elsevier, and Reed Elsevier's business
plans and strategies.  Forward-looking statements are based on the current
expectations of the management of Reed Elsevier and are subject to risks and
uncertainties.  Actual results and events could differ materially from the
results discussed in the forward-looking statements.  Factors which could
cause or contribute to differences in results include, but are not limited to,
general economic conditions and business conditions in Reed Elsevier's
markets, customers' acceptance of its products and services, the actions of
competitors, changes in law and legal interpretation affecting Reed Elsevier's
intellectual property rights, and the impact of technological change.  Reed
Elsevier is not under any obligation (and expressly disclaims any such
obligation) to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.





Enquiries:          Catherine May  , Reed Elsevier, Tel: [phone]