Trading Statement

Torex Retail PLC
16 January 2006


Monday 16th January 2006


                                Torex Retail Plc

                                Pre-close Update
                                       &
                                  Board Change

Torex Retail Plc ('Torex Retail' or 'the Group'), a leading supplier of  IT
solutions to retailers worldwide, is pleased to announce that it expects to
report trading for the year ended 31 December 2005 in line with market
expectations. In addition to this, the Group are pleased to announce the
following:-

Trading

UK

Torex Retail continued to experience a strong second half trading performance in
the UK, the Group's largest market, with a number of notable achievements:

•         A record number of LUCAS product sales, primarily to the Alphameric
customer base, reflecting the successful integration of that business and fully
consistent with their corporate strategy;

•         New business success with blue chip retailers particularly for
performance management, petrol and retail pharmacy solutions;

•         Development of record sales pipeline for 2006 particularly in
hospitality where the level of new enquiries from major retailers is very
positive;

•         Building on its historical strength within the independent petroleum
sector, the Group is increasingly winning business from the major oil companies
and forecourt supermarkets.  This market is expected to demonstrate strong
growth in 2006.

The level of demand from UK retailers for new IT systems remains strong. The
British Retail Consortium reported both December 2005 total sales 6.2% ahead of
2004 and sales for the whole of the last quarter up 4.1% on 2004, representing
the best December since 2001.  The Board of Torex Retail are confident that the
strong Christmas trading will further encourage retailers to pursue planned IT
investments, driven by the need to gain competitive advantage and replace
outdated technology platforms.

USA

In the USA, the largest retail IT market in the world (estimated at between
US$4-5bn in software and services alone) Torex Retail is continuing to penetrate
the market, with RSS and Systech now being fully integrated into the newly
launched Torex Retail North America.  The outlook for the market is very
positive, with the retail and hospitality systems sectors experiencing strong
growth as retailers replace systems that were last updated pre the Millennium.

Against this backdrop of buoyant market conditions there are still a number of
opportunities for further consolidation of the US retail and hospitality IT
markets, which is fully consistent with the Group's strategy of building
critical mass and providing cross-selling opportunities to drive future organic
growth.

Europe

The Group has continued to win a number of important new business wins for both
its LUCAS and OSCAR products. The Group is now the market leader for retail IT
solutions in Continental Europe, with a large customer base and very strong
delivery capability.  This puts the Group in an excellent position to take
advantage of the upturn in the market as the POS replacement cycle (currently
being actively experienced in the UK and particularly the US) increasingly
impacts in Europe.

Integration Update

Good progress had been made with the integration of companies acquired during
the year with XN Checkout, Anker and Systech having now been completely absorbed
into the Group's operating infrastructure.  The restructuring of the Group's UK
and European business following the acquisition of Anker continues to run ahead
of initial expectations, both in terms of the quantum and timing of overhead
savings.

It is now anticipated that the total annualised cost savings will be in excess
of £12 million (over 2x initially reported) with related restructuring costs in
the region of £15 million in 2005 and £5 million in 2006, representing a 20
month payback.  These savings help to underpin the improvement in operating
profit in 2006, and particularly 2007 and beyond.

Board Change

It is announced that by mutual agreement Michael Meade, who joined the Company
on 1 November 2005, is for personal reasons to step down from the Board of
directors.  The Board has identified a replacement Group Finance Director, who
is currently employed within a publicly quoted company.  The new appointment is
expected to be confirmed at the time of the Group's preliminary results'
announcement.  In the meantime, responsibility for the finance function will be
in the very capable hands of Mark Pearman, who was the Group Finance Director of
Torex PLC between 1998 and 2001. Michael will be leaving the Board with
immediate effect.

Chris Moore, Chairman of Torex Retail, commented:

'The Group is exceptionally well positioned for future growth in 2006 with a
strong order book and good visibility of earnings, supported by a high level of
recurrent revenues.

During 2005 the Group's strategic focus was on acquisition-driven growth to
build our customer base and critical mass in our chosen markets.  In 2006, the
emphasis will be to aggressively drive the benefits from our 6,000 strong
customer base and 'best of breed' product portfolio to achieve increased organic
growth.  This focus, combined with a limited number of carefully targeted
strategically important acquisitions, will continue to deliver increased
shareholder value in 2006 and beyond.

On a personal note, and on behalf of the Board, I would like to wish Michael
Meade every future success in whichever field he decides to continue his career.
At the same time I am delighted that we have identified a strong and
experienced replacement and I have every confidence in Mark Pearman, who will
oversee our Finance function in the interim period.'

Torex Retail Plc expects to announce its 2005 preliminary results in early March
2006.

Enquiries:

Chris Moore, Chairman
Torex Retail Plc
0870 300 6061

Ginny Pulbrook / Seb Hoyle / Lucie Holloway
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
020 7638 9571



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