1

GUS

• A leading retail and business services group

• UK’s largest general retailer by market capitalisation

• Sales of £7.5bn and PBT of £827m

• Outperformed FTSE100 consistently over last four years

2

Our businesses

ExperianArgos Retail Group Burberry

Leading global information services company

UK’s largest non-food retailer

Leading international luxury brand

3

ARG – a leading UK non-food retailer

UK retail sales £m

4,9274,717

4,4524,134 4,117

ARG Boots Dixons M&S* KingfisherMar 04 Mar 04 Apr 03 Mar 04 Jan 04

* Excludes Food Source: Company accounts

4

Experian – a leading information solutions company

Sales $m

2,315

1,2251,011 945

629

Experian Equifax Acxiom Harte-Hanks

Fair, Isaac

Mar 04 Dec 03 Mar 04 Dec 03 Sep 03

Exchange rate £1:$1.80 Source: Company accounts

5

Burberry – a leading luxury brand

Estimated brand sales at retail value€bn

3.8

3.1

2.6

1.7

Burberry Louis Vuitton* Gucci HermèsMar 04 Dec 03 Jan 04 Dec 03

* Louis Vuitton brand only

6

Transforming the Group

TODAY

HomebaseUK Home ShoppingReality

ConsumerInfo.comNordic Info Group

ScorexUS affiliates

Property

Vehicle financing3 major

growth

businessesBurberry IPO Burberry licensees

7

Transforming the Group

Operating profit*

£519m

5%

32%

16%

47%4%

30%

39%

9%

5%

6%7%

Experian

ARG

Burberry

S. Africa

Finance

Property

Experian

ARG

Burberry

S. Africa

Operating profit*#

£882m

* Pre-central costs# Continuing activities

Year to March 2004

Home shopping

Year to March 2000

8

Delivering growth

PBT*£m

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

552 642 827487

+9%+13%

+16%

+29%

448

Year to March

Return on capitalpost-tax

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Year to March

6.5% 6.7% 7.5% 8.3% 10.1%

+0.2%+0.8%

+0.8%

+1.8%

* Before amortisation of goodwill and exceptional items

9

Group strategy

Created significant shareholder value over last four years

• EPS growth of 76%

• Dividends over £900m

• Number three in Total Shareholder Return among FTSE 100companies

Looking forward, the Board of GUS sees further scope to increaseshareholder value significantly

• Continue to invest in three main businesses

• £200m share buyback over the next twelve months

• Actively review all strategic options over the next two years

Argos Retail Group

11

Argos Retail Group - overview

£297m

£102m

£16m

ArgosHomebase

Year to March 2004

Other#

EBIT• Leading UK general

merchandise retailer

• Sales £5.2bn, profit £415m

• Multi-brand, multi-channel

• Supported by central infrastructure, where appropriate

• ARG-based incentivisation

# ARG Financial Services and Wehkamp

12

Argos

• More than two-thirds of UK households collect a catalogue from store twice a year

• 556 stores

• 98% of the UK population live within 10 miles of a store

• 13,000 products in the catalogue

• Market leader in many product categories

• Low cost operator

• Value retailer

13

Argos – building shareholder value

Sales*£bn

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Operating profit*£m

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Year to March

137 161 204 241 297

+17%

+27%

+17%

+24%

Year to March

2.1 2.4 2.8 3.0 3.4

+16%

+19%+12%

+12%

* 2003 and 2004 exclude Additions

14

Argos – growth initiatives

Choice• Roll-out Argos Extra• Range expansion

Value• Supply chain gains re-

invested again in price• Operational efficiencies

Convenience• About 35 new stores in 2005• Argos Direct capacity

Goal is to outperform its market, irrespective of economic background

15

Argos – increasing choice and convenience

Argos catalogue – number of product lines

Argos Direct share of sales

20%

10%

12%

16%

18%

2000 2001 2002 2003

Year to March2004

7,700

8,7009,300

11,600

13,000

17,000

SS00 SS01 SS02 SS03 SS04

Argos Argos Extra

16

Homebase

• Purchase price £900m

• Number two DIY brand in UK

• High brand awareness– ABC1 customers– Female shoppers

• 278 stores, biased to South East

• Differentiated from competitors by focus on home enhancement

• Balanced offer by product

• 2004 sales of £1.5bn; operating profit £102m

• Covering cost of capital in first year

17

Homebase – growth initiatives

Improve core

• Service

• Stock availability

Enhance home furnishings

• Mezzanine rollout

• miHome and other initiatives

Leverage ARG scale

• Sourcing

• Financial services

18

Investing for growth – ARG FS

16

106

192

374

2001 2002 2003 2004

• £374m loan book funded on balance sheet

• Further c£150m investment in 2005

• Argos store card funds 9% of sales

• Now positioned for significant profit growth over time

ARG Financial ServicesLoan book

£m

At 31 March

Experian

20

Experian - overview

• Sales £1.3bn, EBIT £282m, highly cash generative

• Largest global information solutions company

• No. 1 or No. 2 in nearly all of its markets

• No single competitor offers as many products and solutions

• No single competitor operates with success in so many countries

21

Experian – what we do

e.g. credit scoringe.g. consumer credit databases

Information

Credit

Marketing

Solutions

Credit

Marketing

Outsourcing

e.g. marketingdatabases

e.g. databasemanagement

e.g. chequeprocessing

22

Experian – broad offering

Financial services

57%

Retail/ home

shopping13%

Telecom/utilities/ insurance

9%

Other7%Automotive

3%Publishing/ media3%

• Over 40,000 clients in more than 60 countries

• Top 10 clients account for about 25% of sales

• Over 80% of top 50 clients dealt with Experian for over five years

Year to March 2004

% of sales by vertical market

Clients include:• AOL Time Warner• BNP Paribas• Barclays• Citigroup• Ford• HBOS

• MBNA• Marks & Spencer• Morgan Stanley• Orange• Sears• Société Générale

Direct-to-consumer8%

23

Experian – building shareholder value

Sales*£m

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Operating profit*£m

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

* Growth rates at constant currency and in 2004 for continuing activities only

Year to March Year to March

949 1,018 1,115 1,201 1,286 201 217 224 256 282

+2% +5%+12%

+14%

+3% +3%

+20%

+20%

24

Experian – strategic focus

• Build on core businesses, including:

– Winning major long-term contracts in many markets

– Acquiring US affiliate credit bureaux

• Sell new solutions, including:

– Database marketing

– UK business information

• Grow by acquisition, including:

– Nordic Info Group

– Scorex

– Transamerica

25

Supporting M&S ‘&more’ card

‘&more’ Card Chargecard

New business system In-house/Experian In-house

Fraud detection system Experian In-house

Credit card processing Experian In-house

Collection system Experian In-house

Loyalty system In-house In-house

Management information Experian/In-house In-house

Statement production Experian In-house

Card embossing OCS/Schlumberger In-house

Source: Marks & Spencer

26

Grow by acquisition

Solutions OutsourcingInformation

Manage large databases

Manage processes andlogistics effectively

Build specialistanalytical solutions

Leverage assets and skills by acquisitions

Data Product New regions

New vertical markets Consolidation

27

Experian – growth initiatives

• Growth in direct-to-consumer market

• Growth of fraud, especially over the Internet

• Move to one-to-one marketing

• Growing demand for information in new industries, e.g.

automotive, insurance, business-to-business

• Increasing credit/plastic usage, especially in emerging

markets

• Growth of outsourcing to lower costs

28

Experian International – growth record

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 20040

20

40

60

80

100

120

Sales (LHS) EBIT (RHS)

£m £m

Year to March

• Sales and profits CAGR of 20% and 23% respectively

Burberry

30

Burberry - overview

• Distinctive luxury brand with international recognition and broad appeal

• c.£2.6bn of global sales at retail value

• Sells men's and women's apparel and accessories

• 145 directly operated stores and concessions

• Sells through space in over 3,000 leading department stores and specialty retailers worldwide, and via licensees in Japan

• Became separate public company in July 2002, with GUS as 66% shareholder

31

Burberry – building shareholder value

Sales£m

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Operating profit£m

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Year to March

22 70 90 117 141

+200%

+29%

+34%

+24%

Year to March

230 425 499 594 676

+80%+16%

+21%

+16%

* Growth rates at constant currency

32

Burberry – initiatives

By product

• Extend the product range

• Focus on accessories

By geography

• Growth opportunities in US and Asia

• Resumed growth in Spain

By channel

• Own retail as main driver

• Greater control in Japan

34

GUS - summary

• 2004 was another year of excellent progress with 29% profit growth

• Strong momentum in all our businesses

• Created significant shareholder value over last four years

• Looking forward, the Board of GUS sees further scope to increase shareholder value significantly

Appendix

36

Sales and profit by geography

EBIT*Sales*

7%

23%

8%

62%

UK & Ireland

North America

Continental Europe

Rest of World

£863m

Year to March 2004

4%

12%

9%

75%

UK & Ireland

North America

Continental Europe

Rest of World

£7,279m

Year to March 2004

* Continuing activities only

37

Profit grew in all businesses

Argos Retail Group 415.5 249.8 165.7 164.2

Experian 282.2 256.4 25.8 41.5

Burberry 141.2 116.7 24.5 27.8

Other 23.6 16.4 7.2 (1.1)

Continuing operations 862.5 639.3 223.2 232.4

Discontinued operations* 18.0 61.2 (43.2) (43.2)

Interest (53.9) (58.1) 4.2 8.1

Profit before goodwill,exceptionals and tax 826.6 642.4 184.2 197.3

2004 2003 Change Change at£m £m £m constant FX

£m12 months to 31 March

* Represents Property £18.0m (2003: £25.9m) and ARG discontinued operations £nil (2003: £35.3m)

38

Profit from other divisions

South African Retailing 43.5 31.8 11.7 3.4

Finance Division* - 6.6 (6.6) (6.6)

gusco.com* - (2.7) 2.7 2.7

Central costs (19.9) (19.3) (0.6) (0.6)

Total 23.6 16.4 7.2 (1.1)

2004 2003 Change Change at£m £m £m constant FX

£m12 months to 31 March

* Included within central costs in 2004 as not material

39

EBITDA by division

* Represents: 2003 ARG discontinued operations £59.8m and Property £26.6m; 2004 ARG discontinued operations (being two months depreciation) £4.1m and Property £19.9m

# Excluding amortisation of goodwill

Argos 360.5 291.6Homebase 150.1 11.3Financial Services (3.5) (11.5)Wehkamp 25.0 23.0Experian North America 258.5 252.7Experian International 143.0 122.1Burberry 169.7 135.7South Africa 46.7 34.1Central activities (2.7) 0.2Continuing operations 1,147.3 859.2Discontinued operations* 24.0 86.4Depreciation and amortisation# (290.8) (245.1)Net interest (53.9) (58.1) Profit before goodwill, exceptionals and tax 826.6 642.4

2004 2003£m £m

12 months to 31 March

40

Cash flow by division

270298

51

108

155

44

96112 113

2002 2003 2004 2002 2003 2004 2002 2003 2004

Operating cash flow* £m(% represents operating profit conversion)

ExperianARG#

(continuing)Burberry

Year to March

# ARG operating cash flow is after investment in the ARG FS loan books of £90m, £86m and £182m in 2002 to 2004 respectively

* Operating profit plus depreciation less capex plus/minus change in trading working capital

50%

105%

53%38%

57%

92%

110%

106%

11%

ARG FS loan book growth

41

Strong cash flow

Operating profit 880 700

Amortisation of own shares 15 13

Depreciation 276 232

Capital expenditure (306) (329)

Change in working capital (305) 172

Operating cash flow 560 788

Interest (48) (11)

Corporation tax (176) (141)

Free cash flow 336 636

2004 2003£m £m12 months to 31 March

42

Strong cash flow

Free cash flow 336 636

Acquisitions and divestments 715 (1,035)

Dividends (244) (220)

Special pension contributions (100) (20)

Net cash flow 707 (639)

Securitisation repayments - (201)

FX movements 179 38

Movement in net debt 886 (802)

Net debt (1,200) (2,086)

2004 2003£m £m12 months to 31 March

43

Group balance sheet

Fixed assets 1,197 1,221

Investments 253 447

Working capital 650 1,155

Trading net assets 2,100 2,823

Goodwill 2,338 2,436

Home shopping/Reality provision - (210)

Dividends and taxation (362) (286)

Acquisition consideration receivable/(due) 131 (37)

Net debt (1,200) (2,086)

Total capital employed 3,007 2,640

2004 2003£m £m12 months to 31 March

44

£200m share buyback

Decision based on:

• Dividend payout (£271m in 2004)

• Investment opportunities

– Argos Extra

– ARG infrastructure

– ARG Financial Services

– Experian infill acquisitions

• Special pension contributions (£100m)

• Lease commitments

• Cost of debt

45

Illustrative credit rating agency analysis

Balance sheet net debt 1,200

EBITDA 1,171

Balance sheet net debt/EBITDA 1.0x

Add capitalised operating leases (8x) 2,632

Add pension deficit (pre-tax) 188

Net pension adjusted debt 4,020

Operating leases 329

EBITDAR 1,500

Net pension adjusted debt/EBITDAR 2.7x

2004£m

46

Argos – sales growth

H1 2000 804 (1) (4) -H2 2000 1,250 13 11 2

2,057 7 5 1

H1 2001 923 14 11 3H2 2001 1,365 9 6 3

2,387 11 8 3

H1 2002 1,076 17 13 6H2 2002 1,598 17 13 6

2,847 17 13 6

H1 2003 1,207 12 7 4H2 2003 1,809 14 7 2

3,017 13 7 3

H1 2004 1,377 14 7 3H2 2004 2,007 11 4 1

3,384 12 5 2

Argos Total LFL Market LFL#

sales* change change change£m % % %

* Excluding Argos Additions and excluding jungle.com until its integration into Argos in H1 2004# BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor - average LFL growth over period for total retail market

47

Argos – highly capital efficient

Return on capitalpre-tax

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Year to March

7.8% 8.9% 10.9% 12.7% 15.1%

+1.1%

+2.0%

+1.8%

+2.4%

• In the last four years

– Sales up £1.3bn

– Profit up £160m

– Capital up only c£300m

• Highly capital efficient

– Goodwill £1,600m

– Trading assets £460m

• Unique format

• Return on capital almost doubled since 2000

48

Argos Extra

SS03 AW03 SS04 AW04

Neighbourhood storesStocked-in stores

11

• Roll-out to about 150 stores in July 2004

• No need for more retail space

• Capital spend of c£25m in 2005 on store conversions and distribution

• Further developing

– Systems

– Nationwide home delivery

– Neighbourhood stores26

75

152

Argos Extra storesCumulative at catalogue launch

49

Experian - geographical split

Sales Operating profit

Employees

International£550m45%

North America£665m55%

International7,49962%

North America4,50138%

International£109m38%

North America£181m62%

Continuing activities only

Year to March 2004

50

Experian – major competitors

Fair, IsaacEquifax

FDCTSYS

EquifaxTransUnion

D&B

Solutions

Credit

Marketing

OutsourcingInformation

Credit

Marketing

AcxiomHarte-Hanks

AcxiomEquifaxinfoUSA

51

Mortgage originations in US

• As expected, refinancing now slowing

• 10% pa growth in purchase originations over last 10 years

• Transamerica acquisition

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,50090

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

00

01

02

03

04F

05F

Purchase originations Refinance originations

$bn

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association – May 2004

52

Experian North America – sales mix

OutsourcingCredit

Information

Solutions

Marketing

Information

Solutions

Sales ($m) 824 304 n/a

% of sales 73% 27% n/a

3 year underlying average growth* 7% 1% n/a

Sales are for year to March 2004 and exclude discontinued activities* Growth excluding corporate acquisitions and discontinued activities

53

Experian North America

-1%

10%

n/a

7%8%

12%

Credit Marketing Outsourcing Total

Information Solutions

12 months to March 2004Undelying sales growth %*

% of sales 73 27 n/a 100

* Excluding corporate acquisitions and discontinued activities

54

Experian International – sales mix

OutsourcingCredit

Information

Solutions

Marketing

Information

Solutions

Sales (£m) 321 98 135

% of sales 58% 18% 24%

3 year underlyingaverage growth* 11% 10% 8%

Sales are for year to March 2004 and exclude discontinued activities* Growth excluding corporate acquisitions and discontinued activities at constant exchange rates

55

Experian International

11%11%

-4%#

12%

7%

11%

Credit Marketing Outsourcing Total

Information Solutions

12 months to March 2004Underlying sales growth %*

% of sales 58 18 24 100

* Excluding corporate acquisitions, discontinued activities and at constant exchange rates# Excluding the previously anticipated completion of a three-year contract with one client in France,

Outsourcing sales were up +4%

56

GUS - share price performance

155

255

355

455

555

655

755

Jan-

00

Jan-

01

Jan-

02

Jan-

03

Jan-

04

3,000

5,000

7,000

9,000

11,000

13,000

15,000

GUS FTSE 100

GUS pence FTSE 100

57

Contacts

GUS plcOne Stanhope GateLondonW1K 1AFTel: +44 20 7 495 0070Fax: +44 20 7 495 1567Website: www.gusplc.com

Fay DoddsDirector of Investor RelationsTel: +44 20 7 318 6245Fax: +44 20 7 318 6253Email: fay.dodds@gusplc.com

David TylerGroup Finance DirectorTel: +44 20 7 318 6204Fax: +44 20 7 318 6257Email: david.tyler@gusplc.com

Stuart FordInvestor Relations ManagerTel: +44 20 7 318 6245Fax: +44 20 7 318 6253Email: stuart.ford@gusplc.com

Peter BlytheDirector of FinanceTel: +44 20 7 318 6206Fax: +44 20 7 318 6253Email: peter.blythe@gusplc.com

58

Financial calendar

21 July 2004 - AGM

- First Quarter Trading Update

13 October 2004 - First Half Trading Update

18 November 2004 - Interim Results

January 2005 - Third Quarter Trading Update

April 2005 - Second Half Trading Update

25 May 2005 - Preliminary Results

59

Certain statements made in this announcement are forward looking

statements. Such statements are based on current expectations and are

subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results

to differ materially from any expected future results in forward looking

statements.