Interim Results to to 31 January 2000 & Other News

Actif Group PLC 2 May 2000 Actif Group plc Announcement of interim results, acquisition of new licence agreement and proposed launch of new e-commerce site Actif Group's strategy is to acquire the clothing rights for quality brands and to use its management experience to develop those brands through a variety of routes to market in the UK and Europe Highlights * Turnover up 40% to £6.7 million (1999: £4.8 million) * Gross margins have increased from 28.3% to 34.4% as a result of the increasing proportion of retail business within the Group * Operating profit of £30,000 is £266,000 up on the same period last year * Loss before tax of £220,000 reflects exceptional costs of £174,000 arising from major capital restructuring and reorganisation required by the successful flotation of the Company * Four new ELLE retail stores opened in Leeds, Castleford, Braintree and Portsmouth * Acquisition of 15 year licence agreement with Boxer Holdings Inc, a leading US designer and manufacturer of JOE BOXER underwear and sleepwear, for all European territories * Concession agreement for JOE BOXER already signed with Debenhams plc for 18,000 square feet of retail space across 45 stores to launch the brand from early September 2000 * joeboxer.com website planned to offer JOE BOXER products across Europe Martin Lent, Chief Executive of Actif Group, commented: 'We have already demonstrated our ability to grow and develop the ELLE brand and we look forward to replicating that success with JOE BOXER. The addition of this licence is an important step forward in our goal to develop a portfolio of quality brands, distributed across Europe.' Further information is available on the corporate website, www.actifgroup.com Enquiries: ACTIF GROUP PLC HUDSON SANDLER Martin Lent, Chief Executive Piers Hooper Simon Banfield, Finance Director Wendy Baker Tel: +44 (0)20 7436 3330 Tel: +44 (0)20 7796 4133 CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT I am pleased to report on a period of considerable progress for Actif Group plc during which time the Company was successfully floated on the Alternative Investment Market. Actif Group's strategy is to acquire the clothing rights for quality brands and to use its management experience to develop those brands through a variety of routes to market in the UK and Europe. The Board of Actif is therefore delighted to announce that it has entered into a 15 year licence agreement with Boxer Holdings Inc (a wholly owned subsidiary of Joe Boxer Corp), a leading US designer and manufacturer of underwear and sleepwear, for all European territories. The licence agreement, which will be held by an Actif subsidiary, changedaily.co.uk limited, covers Joe Boxer underwear and sleepwear product lines for men, women and children. In addition, Actif announces its intention to launch a JOE BOXER website to support the brand throughout Europe. Financial Performance During the period under review our stated strategy to expand into retail has continued and has produced an increase in both sales and gross margins. Although a small loss before tax and exceptional items has been recorded for the half year as anticipated, we are considerably ahead of the same period last year. In the six months to 31 January 2000 turnover increased by 40% to £6.7 million (1999: £4.8 million). Gross margins have increased from 28.3% to 34.4% as a result of the increasing proportion of retail business within the group. The operating profit of £30,000 is £266,000 up on the same period last year. The loss before tax of £220,000 includes exceptional costs of £174,000 arising from the major capital restructuring and reorganisation that was a prerequisite of the successful flotation of the Company. As stated in our recent placing document, it is the Board's intention to retain any profits for use within the business during the current phase of development of the Company. Consequently, there is no proposal to pay a dividend on the ordinary share capital of the Company for the current financial year. Retail Business During the period under review the number of ELLE retail stores has increased from two to six as new stores have been opened in Leeds, Castleford, Braintree and Portsmouth. As part of our strategy to increase our higher margin retail business, one of our major wholesale customers will convert to a retail concession business with effect from August 2000. We are planning to open new ELLE stores in Manchester, Newcastle, Chester and one near Edinburgh, which with the new concessions will create 20,000 square feet of additional retail selling space. Wholesale Business The ELLE wholesale range has performed well in the UK and has had a mixed response in Europe with sales increasing in countries such as Switzerland, Ireland, Germany and Iceland. The Southern European markets are proving more difficult for the ELLE clothing range although the underwear and sportswear collections are enjoying some success. We are now developing products that are more suitable for these markets. The conversion of a number of our UK wholesale customers to retail concessions will impact on the wholesale business in the current year but will generate greater sales at a higher margin for the Company in subsequent years. Wholesale sales increased by 17% in the period to £5.4 million (1999: £4.6 million) whilst margins remained unchanged from last year at 27.8%. New Licence The Company has entered into a 15 year licence agreement for Europe, with Boxer Holdings Inc, a high profile US designer and manufacturer of underwear and sleepwear. JOE BOXER products are distributed throughout the US in over 4,000 department stores, speciality shops and catalogues. Product is also currently produced under licence in Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico and New Zealand. Current annual value of wholesale sales worldwide exceeds US$100 million. The licence will initially run for 5 years, from 1 April 2000 to 30 June 2005, with a renewal option for the licensee subject to the achievement of certain performance criteria. Actif will pay royalties based upon sales volumes at different rates for wholesale and retail. The Company has already signed a concession agreement with Debenhams plc for 18,000 square feet of retail space across 45 stores to launch the brand from early September 2000. The launch costs of this new brand will obviously impact on the current year's profit and loss account whilst the associated revenue will commence in the early part of the next financial year. Outlook The opening of the proposed new stores together with the conversion of a substantial proportion of the wholesale business to retail concessions and the launch of the JOE BOXER brand will increase the number of retail outlets to over 90. These significant developments along with the start up costs of the JOE BOXER business will impact on the result for the second half of the year but the prospects for next year and for the long-term development of the business are encouraging. Peter W D Roberts Chairman GROUP PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT For the 6 months to 31 January 2000 Unaudited Unaudited Audited 6 months to 6 months to Year to 31 January 31 January 31 July Notes 2000 1999 1999 £'000 £'000 £'000 Turnover 6,694 4,832 10,155 Cost of sales (4,391) (3,466) (6,620) ----------- ----------- --------- Gross profit 2,303 1,366 3,535 Administrative expenses (2,275) (1,602) (3,426) Other operating income 2 - - ----------- ----------- --------- Operating profit/(loss) 30 (236) 109 Exceptional item 2 (174) - - Other interest receivable and similar income - - 4 Interest payable and similar charges (76) (26) (68) ----------- ---------- --------- (Loss)/profit on ordinary activities before taxation (220) (262) 45 Taxation 3 28 81 5 ----------- ---------- --------- (Loss)/profit on ordinary activities after taxation (192) (181) 50 Minority interest - 2 2 ----------- ---------- --------- (Loss)/profit for the period (192) (179) 52 Divided - non-equity (3) (3) (15) ----------- ---------- --------- (Loss)/retained profit for the period (195) (182) 37 ========= ========= ========= (Loss)/earnings per share 4 (0.66p) (0.65p) 0.13p ----------- ---------- --------- Adjusted (loss)/earnings per share (0.13p) (0.65p) 0.13p ----------- ---------- --------- Fully diluted (loss)/earnings per share (0.66p) (0.65p) 0.09p ----------- ---------- --------- Adjusted fully diluted (loss)/ earnings per share (0.13p) (0.65p) 0.09p ----------- ---------- --------- GROUP BALANCE SHEET As At 31 January 2000 Unaudited Unaudited Audited 31 January 31 January 31 July Notes 2000 1999 1999 £'000 £'000 £'000 Fixed assets ------------ Intangible assets 52 - - Tangible assets 1,460 559 912 ---------- ---------- --------- 1,512 559 912 Current Assets -------------- Stocks 2,960 1,132 2,250 Debtors 5 4,093 2,113 1,864 Cash at bank and in hand - - 1 ---------- ---------- --------- 7,053 3,245 4,115 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (4,986) (2,904) (3,587) ---------- ---------- --------- Net current assets 2,067 341 528 ---------- ---------- --------- Total assets less current liabilities 3,579 900 1,440 Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year (359) (114) (436) ---------- ---------- --------- Net assets 3,220 786 1,004 ========= ========= ======== Capital and reserves -------------------- Called up share capital 585 369 369 Share premium account 2,312 132 132 Capital reserve - 47 47 Merger reserve 39 - - Profit and loss account 284 238 456 --------- --------- -------- Shareholders' funds 3,220 786 1,004 --------- --------- -------- Shareholders' funds ------------------- Equity interests 3,220 696 914 Non-equity interests - 90 90 --------- --------- -------- 3,220 786 1,004 ========= ========= ========= NOTES TO THE INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 1. Basis of preparation The consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with applicable accounting standards. The accounting policies applied are consistent with those set out in the financial statements of Actif Group plc (prepared under its former name of DB Actif Limited) for the year ended 31 July 1999. The interim financial statements are unaudited and do not constitute accounts within the meaning of section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. The financial information for the year ended 31 July 1999 has been extracted from the Group's statutory accounts for the period, which have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditors' report on those accounts was unqualified and did not contain any statement under section 237 of the Companies Act 1985. 2. Exceptional item The exceptional item comprises the costs of the capital restructuring and reorganisation carried out in preparation for the flotation of the Company on the Alternative Investment Market. 3. Taxation The taxation credit for the 6 months has been calculated at the estimated effective rate for the full year of 21%, after excluding non-deductible exceptional items. 4. Earnings per share Earnings per share and fully diluted earnings per share for the 6 months ended 31 January 2000, the year ended 31 July 1999 and the 6 months ended 31 January 1999 have been calculated on profit after tax and non-equity dividends and on the weighted average number of shares in issue and under option during the period, as set out below: 6 months ended 6 months ended Year ended 31 January 2000 31 January 1999 31 July 1999 Weighted average number of ordinary shares 29,436,055 27,852,600 27,852,600 --------------- --------------- ------------ Weighted average number of ordinary and potential ordinary shares 39,640,445 39,560,379 39,517,002 --------------- --------------- ------------ For the periods ended 31 January 1999 and 31 January 2000 the potential ordinary shares are non-dilutive. The numbers of shares in issue for the prior periods have been restated to reflect the sub-division of the £1 ordinary shares into 100 shares of 1 pence each, which took place on 13 January 2000. Adjusted loss per share for the 6 months ended 31 January 2000 has been calculated on profit on ordinary activities after tax and non-equity dividends but excluding the exceptional item of £174,000. 5. Debtors Included within debtors at 31 January 2000 is the sum of £1,406,067 in respect of share capital issued under a placing agreement dated 24 January 2000. 6. Copies of Interim Report The Interim Report will be sent by post to all registered shareholders. Copies of the Interim Report are available from the Company Secretary at the Registered Office of Actif Group plc, 20 Little Portland Street, London W1N 5AE.

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