2005 AGM Statement

Group advertising revenue for the first four months increased by 2.3%. This represents an increase of 6.5% for January and February, partially offset by a decline of 1.4% for March and April. For our Regionals division advertising revenues increased by 4.0% with growth in most categories being offset by a 2.7% decline in recruitment advertising and a 0.8% fall in Motors.

The Nationals division advertising revenues fell by 2.4% with a 3.9% decline for the UK Nationals partially offset by an increase of 2.0% for our Scottish Nationals. In a difficult marketplace our National titles continue to maintain advertising volume market share.

Group circulation revenues for the first four months increased by 3.1%. Circulation revenues for our Regional titles and National titles increased by 4.8% and 1.6% respectively.

At the Group's preliminary results announcement on 3 March 2005, we indicated that revenue growth for 2005 is expected to be lower than 2004 due to the impact of tougher comparatives for 2005. Whilst trading was ahead of expectations for the first two months the advertising market softened during March and April. It is too early to determine the implications of recent trends in advertising revenues partly due to the timing of Easter relative to 2004 and uncertainties created by the General Election.

The Board continues to have confidence in its performance-based strategy and anticipates a satisfactory outcome for the year.