Disposal

SMG PLC 10 May 2004 SMG plc: Disposal of GMTV Stake The Board of SMG plc ('SMG') announces today (10 May, 2004) that it has agreed the sale of its 25% shareholding in GMTV Limited ('GMTV') to ITV plc. The sale is subject to regulatory approval and the rights of the other GMTV shareholders, and will realise cash proceeds of £31.0m. As ITV plc has a 16.9% holding in SMG, the sale is also subject to SMG shareholder approval as a related party transaction. The value attributed to the shareholding by SMG in its consolidated balance sheet at 31 December 2003 was £6.5m. The pre-tax profit, after goodwill amortisation, attributable to the stake for the year ending 31 December 2003 was £2.9m. SMG's original 20% shareholding was acquired in 1991 and increased to 25% in 2000. Since that time, changes in the structure of GMTV's shareholder base have resulted in SMG's Board taking the view that this investment could no longer be regarded as strategic and that the interests of SMG's shareholders would be best served by disposing of the stake. The proceeds of the sale will be used by SMG to reduce debt. Commenting on today's announcement, Andrew Flanagan, Chief Executive of SMG, said: 'The ITV merger created a 50% shareholder in GMTV and we don't want to have a minority interest in someone else's media business. It is clearly in our shareholders' interests to sell the stake at an attractive price. Our focus is on driving and capitalising on the operational performance of our wholly-owned media assets as the advertising markets continue to improve.' 10 May, 2004 Further Enquiries: SMG Callum Spreng 0141 300 3640 Corporate Affairs Director SMG plc Brunswick James Hogan 020 7404 5959 Ben Brewerton This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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