Pre Close Period Statement

Wilmington Group Plc
15 December 2004


For immediate release                                        15th December 2004


                              WILMINGTON GROUP PLC

                            PRE-CLOSE PERIOD STATEMENT

Wilmington Group plc, the information and training group, today announces its
pre-close period statement in respect of the six months to 31st December 2004.

Trading performance for the six months to 31st December 2004 is expected to be
ahead of the corresponding period ended 31st December 2003 and at the top end of
our expectations.

As in previous years, we expect that the Group's performance will be weighted to
the second half of the financial year.

Considerable progress has been made during the first six months. The Legal and
Regulatory division has performed well during the period and is expected to show
further growth in turnover and profits. In particular the continuing legal
education business has improved on the excellent performance achieved in the
prior year.

In the Healthcare division Agence de Presse Medicale is expected to deliver the
anticipated level of profits during its first full year of ownership by
Wilmington. Elsewhere in this division investment is being made in a number of
new initiatives which should bode well for future growth.

As previously announced we have substantially rationalised the Design and
Construction division to increase efficiency and reduce costs, this has included
vacating properties in Sevenoaks and Chelmsford. These actions and the
restructuring of the management of the Group are expected to result in annual
cost savings of approximately £800,000 and will incur one-off costs of
approximately £900,000.

Outlook

There is a growing requirement for high quality information and training amongst
the professional business communities that we serve. As a result the Board
expects the Group to make further progress this financial year and views its
prospects as encouraging for the full year.

It is currently anticipated that Wilmington will announce its interim results
for the six months to 31st December 2004 during the week commencing 21st
February 2005.


For further information please contact:

Wilmington Group

Charles Brady (Chief Executive)                                  0207 422 6804
Basil Brookes (Finance Director)                                 0207 422 6800

Weber Shandwick Square Mile
Nick Oborne, Kirsty Raper or Yvonne Alexander                    0207 067 0700


Note to Editors

Wilmington Group plc is one of the UK's leading providers of information and
training for professional business markets. The Group provides training,
arranges industry events and publishes magazines, directories, databases, and
special reports focused primarily on its five principal sectors of Legal &
Regulatory, Healthcare, Media and Entertainment, Drinks and Catering and Design
and Construction. Capitalised at approximately £120 million, Wilmington floated
on the London Stock Exchange in 1995.





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