1st Quarter New Business

St. James's Place Capital PLC
4 May 2004



                                                                 4 May 2004

           New Business Figures for the 3 months ended 31 March 2004

St. James's Place Capital plc ('SJPC'), the wealth management group, today
announces its new business figures for the 3 months ended 31 March 2004.

The text of the announcement is attached:

Enquiries:

Mike Wilson, Chief Executive               Tel:       [phone]

Nitya Bolam, Brunswick                     Tel:       [phone]




                            ST. JAMES'S PLACE GROUP
                              NEW BUSINESS FIGURES
                               FIRST QUARTER 2004

                              NEW BUSINESS UP 39%

                                                    3 months to          Change
                                                  31 March 2004
• Long Term Savings

  New Business (annual premium equivalent)
    Investment                                       £25.9 million        + 57%
    Pensions                                         £12.0 million        + 17%
    Protection                                        £5.8 million        + 23%

    Total                                            £43.7 million        + 39%

• Wealth Management Services

  Gross fees generated                                £4.1 million        + 14%

• Funds under management at £8.2 billion up 4% since the start of the year
  and up 46% over the previous twelve months


  Mike Wilson, Group Chief Executive, commented:

    'We are delighted that the growth in new business in the first quarter was
    39% higher than in the same period of 2003, although this should be seen in
    the context of a weak first quarter last year. It's pleasing that there was
    growth in all classes of business, with the 57% increase in investment
    business a particular highlight.

    'Following on from substantial growth in the fourth quarter of 2003, these
    results support our view that we can once again set our sights on achieving
    annual growth in new business over the longer term of 15 to 20%.'


                              ST. JAMES'S PLACE GROUP
                                NEW BUSINESS FIGURES
                                 FIRST QUARTER 2004
                                 LONG TERM SAVINGS


                                                         Unaudited
                                                        3 Months to
                                                       31 March 2004
    NEW PREMIUMS
                                               2004      2003           Change
                                               £'m       £'m         2003/2004

    New Regular Premiums
          Pensions*                             7.3       6.2              18%
          Protection                            5.8       4.7              23%

                                               13.1      10.9              20%

    New Single Premiums
          Investment                          184.6     119.4              55%
          Pensions                             48.1      40.8              18%

                                              232.7     160.2              45%

    Unit Trust Sales                           73.1      45.8              60%
    (including PEPs and ISAs)



    NEW BUSINESS                               2004      2003           Change
    (RP + 1/10th SP)                                                 2003/2004
                                                £'m       £'m

    Investment                                 25.9      16.5              57%
    Pensions                                   12.0      10.3              17%
    Protection                                  5.8       4.7              23%
                                               ------    ------          ------

    Total                                      43.7      31.5              39%
                                               ------    ------          ------

    *see note 2


                              ST. JAMES'S PLACE GROUP
                                NEW BUSINESS FIGURES
                                 FIRST QUARTER 2004

                                       Notes

    1.  New Business from Long Term Savings is calculated following the
        convention in the life assurance industry, by adding together new
        regular premiums and one-tenth of single premiums and unit trust
        sales.

    2.  Pensions regular premiums include £0.1 million of investment regular
        premiums in 2004 (2003: £nil).

    3.  Sales of Stakeholder pensions by St. James's Place Partnership have been
        included in the reported figures. These have been included under
        'Pensions' and amount to £3.9 million new regular premiums (2003: £2.7
        million) and £5.1 million single premiums (2003: £4.6 million). This
        equates to £4.4 million New Business premiums (2003: £3.2 million).

    4.  Sales of protection business through a panel of leading providers have
        been included in the reported figures under 'Regular Premiums
        Protection'. These amount to £3.5 million of new regular premiums (2003:
        £0.5 million) which equate to £3.5 million New Business premiums (2003:
        £0.5 million).





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