GUS plc June 2 0 0 6 Frankfurt/Paris This presentation is not an - - PDF document

GUS plc

June 2 0 0 6

Frankfurt/Paris

1

Certain statements made in this presentation 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 events or results to differ materially from any expected future events or results referred to in these forward looking statements. This presentation is not an offer of securities for sale in any jurisdiction. Any shares to be issued in Experian have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) and may not be offered or sold within the United States absent registration under the Securities Act or an exemption from registration. No public offering of such shares will be made in the United States.

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Pro form a EBI T* £ 7 6 6 m 5 5 % 4 5 %

Transforming the Group

Operating profit * £ 5 1 9 m

4 % 3 0 % 3 9 % 9 % 5 % 6% 7 % Experian ARG Burberry Lew is Finance Property Experian ARG * Before central activities

Year to March 2 0 0 0 Year to March 2 0 0 6

Hom e shopping

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2006 – further strategic progress

• Pursued strategy of focusing on fewer activities since 2000
• Plan to demerge ARG and Experian is natural final step

in strategy

• Disposed of more businesses in 2006

– Lewis – Wehkamp – Burberry

• Continue to invest organically and by acquisition in ARG

and Experian

Argos Retail Group

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Argos Retail Group – overview

• Leading UK general

merchandise retailer

• Multi-brand, multi-channel
• Supported by central

infrastructure, where appropriate

Argos Hom ebase

Year to March 2 0 0 6 £ 3 4 9 m

Financial Services

EBI T 83% 15% 2%

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ARG in 2006

• Consumer spending under pressure in

2006

• Continued to invest in key initiatives while

effectively controlling costs

• Further benefited from leveraging ARG

infrastructure

• Planning on basis of cautious outlook for

recovery in consumer spending

• ARG well-positioned in its markets

– Argos: multi-channel general merchandise retailing – Homebase: serving most attractive part of wider home enhancement market

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Argos

• More than two-thirds of UK households

collect a catalogue from store

• Currently 657 stores
• 98% of the UK population live within

10 miles of a store

• 12% of sales ordered via Internet
• 22% of sales delivered to home via

Argos Direct

• Over 17,000 products in catalogue
• Market leader in many product

categories

• Low cost operator
• Value retailer

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Argos – key initiatives

Improve choice Improve value Improve convenience

• Launched Argos Extra in all stores
• Increase direct importing
• Drive cost productivity/ efficiencies
• Grow Argos Direct
• Open more stores
• Improve multi-channel services,

including Check and Reserve

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Argos Extra

• First trial in January 2003
• Offers 17,200 lines with extended

ranges in leisure, home and electrical

• From July 2005, Argos Extra ranges

available in all stores – c. 190 stores stocked-in – Rest are order-in

• Increasing sales by 2-3% in first full

year

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Homebase

• Number two DIY brand in UK
• High brand awareness

– ABC1 customers – Female shoppers

• 297 stores, biased to South East
• Become the leading UK home

enhancement retailer

• Significant synergies between

Argos and Homebase benefiting both businesses

• Cautious short-term industry
• utlook

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Homebase – key initiatives

• Pursuing initiatives that differentiate it from
• ther players

– All major product groups repositioned since acquisition – Customer service improved – Furniture Extra catalogue rolled out, increasing sales performance – Trialling 200-page home furnishing catalogue in 30 stores – Ten new stores opened; added more mezzanine floors – Further cost and revenue synergies from leveraging ARG infrastructure

Experian

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Experian - overview

• Sales of £1.7bn and EBIT of £417m in 12 months to March 2006;

highly cash generative

• Largest global information solutions company
• No single competitor offers as many products and solutions
• No single competitor operates successfully in so many countries
• Experian has strong market positions and client relationships

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Experian – what we do

Outsourcing

e.g. cheque processing

Solutions

Credit Marketing

e.g. database management e.g. credit scoring

I nform ation

Credit Marketing

e.g. marketing databases e.g. consumer credit databases

I nteractive

e.g. online lead generation

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Credit 4 7 % Marketing 2 5 %

Outsourcing 8 %

North Am erica 5 8 % I nternational 4 2 %

Experian – balanced portfolio

I nform ation 4 0 % Solutions 3 2 %

Outsourcing 8 %

Sales – 12 months to 31 March 2006 Continuing activities

I nteractive 2 0 % I nteractive 2 0 %

17 Financial services 55% Direct-to- consumer 12% Telecom/ utilities/ insurance 7% Other 6% Government 3% Automotive 3%

Experian – broad offering

• Over 50,000 clients in more than

60 countries

• Top 10 clients account for about

25% of sales

• At least 85% of top 50 clients

bought from Experian for over five years

Year to March 2 0 0 6

% of sales by vertical m arket

Clients include:

• AOL Time Warner
• BNP Paribas
• Barclays
• Citigroup
• Ford
• HBOS
• MBNA
• McDonald’s
• Microsoft
• Morgan Stanley
• Orange
• Société Générale

Retail/ home shopping 11% Publishing/ media 3% 18

EBI T £ m 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Experian – building shareholder value

Sales £ m 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Year to March Year to March

1 ,1 1 5 1 ,2 0 1 1 ,2 8 6 2 2 4 2 5 6 2 8 2 + 1 2 % + 1 4 % + 2 0 % + 2 0 % + 1 8 % 1 ,3 3 2 + 1 6 % 3 1 6 1 ,7 2 2 4 1 7 + 2 7 % + 2 9 %

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Experian - key growth drivers

• Growth in online advertising
• Increase in consumer credit and card usage
• Move to multi-channel marketing
• Growth in fraud prevention
• Growth in demand for information in new sectors, e.g. automotive,

insurance, business-to-business, government

• Growth in emerging markets

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Experian Interactive

Credit reports and monitoring services Online lead generation

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Experian - strengthened presence in emerging markets

• Significant investment in talent and

infrastructure – Now employ nearly 200 people in Asia Pacific; up more than 50% in year – Over 150 contributors signed up to Russian bureau – Helping to establish bureaux in Bulgaria and Romania

• Serving domestic and global clients

– Winning significant contracts

Siam Commercial Bank

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Experian – acquisition strategy

• Organic growth accelerated in last

four years

• Acquisitions are key part of growth

strategy

• Often small; always complementary;

bringing – Data – New products – Geographical expansion – Vertical market expansion – Consolidation

• Must generate double-digit post-tax

returns over time

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GUS - summary

• Planned demerger in October 2006 is the natural final step
• f our strategy
• Created £8bn of shareholder value since start of 2000
• Giving shareholders the choice to invest directly in three

well-positioned businesses – ARG – Burberry – Experian

Appendix

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Sales by division

Argos Retail Group 5,548 5,313 1 Experian 1,725 1,362 36 Inter-divisional sales (11) (12)

• Total continuing operations

7 ,2 6 2 6 ,6 6 3 3 7 Discontinued operations* 653 1,124 6 Total sales 7 ,9 1 5 7 ,7 8 7 4 3

* Represents Lewis, Burberry and Wehkamp

I m pact of 2 0 0 6 2 0 0 5 exchange £ m £ m rate £ m 1 2 m onths to 3 1 March

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Argos Retail Group 348.9 399.5 0.3 Experian 416.7 317.0 9.1 Central activities (20.2) (21.8)

• Total continuing operations

7 4 5 .4 6 9 4 .7 9 .4 Discontinued operations* 119.4 239.0 0.7 Net interest (36.3) (23.7) 0.5 Benchm ark PBT 8 2 8 .5 9 1 0 .0 1 0 .6

EBIT by division

* Represents Lewis, Burberry and Wehkamp

I m pact of 2 0 0 6 2 0 0 5 exchange £ m £ m rate £ m 1 2 m onths to 3 1 March

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As at 3 1 March Fixed assets 1,491 1,354 Investment in associates 129 110 Working capital 304 762 Trading assets 1 ,9 2 4 2 ,2 2 6 Goodwill 3,068 2,485 Taxation (44) (1) Net retirement benefit assets/ (obligations) 18 (112) Home Shopping receivable 140 140

Group balance sheet

Net debt (1,974) (1,427) Capital em ployed 3 ,1 3 2 3 ,3 1 1 2 0 0 6 2 0 0 5 £ m £ m

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2 0 0 6 2 0 0 5 £ m £ m EBIT 745 695 Depreciation* 258 230 Capital expenditure (365) (344) Change in working capital 3 (3) Operating cash flow 6 4 1 5 7 8 Interest (33) (34) Corporation tax (108) (170) Free cash flow # 5 0 0 3 7 4

Cash flow

* Excluding amortisation of acquisition intangibles # For continuing operations only. Under IFRS, net cash flow of discontinued operations is shown separately

1 2 m onths to 3 1 March

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Free cash flow 5 0 0 3 7 4 Acquisitions (819) (176) Divestments 360 106 Dividends (284) (281) Share repurchases

• (200)

Special pension contributions (100) (76) Net debt flow * ( 3 4 3 ) ( 2 5 3 ) Exchange and other movements

• 56

Net debt flow of discontinued operations (204) (30) Movem ent in net debt ( 5 4 7 ) ( 2 2 7 ) Closing net debt ( 1 ,9 7 4 ) ( 1 ,4 2 7 )

Cash flow

* For continuing operations only. Under IFRS, net debt flow of discontinued operations is shown separately

2 0 0 6 2 0 0 5 £ m £ m 1 2 m onths to 3 1 March

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Add capitalised operating leases (8x) 2,688 Net lease adjusted debt 4 ,6 2 6 Operating leases 336 EBI TDAR 1 ,3 3 9 Net lease adjusted debt/ EBI TDAR 3 .5 x Balance sheet net debt 1,974 EBITDA 1,003 Balance sheet net debt/ EBITDA 2.0x £ m

Illustrative credit rating agency analysis

As of 3 1 March 2 0 0 6

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ARG strategic sourcing – potential benefits

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Savings potential %

1 0 -1 5 % 5 -1 0 % 1 0 -1 5 % 3 0 -5 0 %

Import vs domestic One agent vs multiple Direct sourcing Cumulative potential e-procurement

5 -1 0 %

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

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2 0 0 6 £ m One-off costs 1% Underlying inflation 4% Investments/ productivity improvements etc 6% – Argos Extra – New space (especially Index in H2) – Distribution Total cost increase 1 1 %

Argos – costs

Year to 3 1 March 2 0 0 6

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2 0 0 6 £ m Underlying inflation 4% Investments/ productivity improvements etc 4% – New space/ mezzanines – Furniture Extra Total cost increase 8 %

Homebase – costs

Year to 3 1 March 2 0 0 6

35 2 2 % 1 6 % 1 8 % 2 0 % 2 2 % 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Argos – increasing choice and convenience

Argos catalogue Num ber of product lines Argos Direct Share of sales Year to March

1 7 ,2 0 0 1 3 ,3 0 0 1 3 ,0 0 0 1 1 ,6 0 0 9 ,3 0 0 1 7 ,5 0 0 1 7 ,0 0 0

SS02 SS03 SS04 SS05 SS06

Argos Argos Extra

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Order channel Internet 6% 6% 12% Phone 4% 4% 8% In store 68% 12% 80% Total 78% 22% 100% Pick up Deliver in store to home Total Receipt channel

Argos – integrated multi-channel model

Year to 3 1 March 2 0 0 6

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Experian – competitive strength

All figures are for last full year of actuals Number on top of bar represents prospective PE rating Exchange rate £1: $1.79

Global sales revenue $ m

Experian D&B Equifax Acxiom Harte-Hanks Fair, Isaac

North America I nternational Source: Company accounts I/ B/ E/ S estimates

Mar 06 Dec 05 Dec 05 Mar 06 Sep 05 1 9 x 2 0 x 2 8 x 1 6 x $ 3 .1 bn

No single com petitor offers as m any products and solutions in as m any countries

Dec 05 2 0 x

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Experian – accelerating organic growth

10% 9% 8% 6% 5% 17% 9% 6% 8% 2% 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Year to March

Contribution from acquisitions Organic growth

• Organic growth has accelerated
• Supplemented by targeted

acquisitions

Sales grow th* %

* At constant currency and for continuing activities only

7% 14% 14% 18% 27%

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Experian – success in Spain

1 9 9 4

Enter w ith scoring/ decisions

1 9 9 9

Establish credit bureau

2 0 0 1

Marketing Services acquisition

2 0 0 2

W in m ain credit bureau contract Start credit card processing for US client

2 0 0 3

Launch Mosaic consum er segm entation

2 0 0 5

Add fraud prevention/ anti-m oney laundering

Experian Spain now has the w idest end-to-end range of solutions

2 0 0 4

Credit bureau contract extended to 2 0 1 0

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Experian Interactive - common business model

Customer acquisition channels

Broadcast Experian websites Search listings Partners Affiliates

Consum ers Advertisers

Lead generation Experian products Customer acquisition

Customer monetisation

Experian data assets Experian m odelling and analytics

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Experian Interactive

• High growth markets
• Strong market position
• Scale gives strong advertising

presence on Internet

• Synergies across Interactive and

Experian

• Internationally scaleable

5 10 15 20 25 00 01 02 03 04 05e 06e 07e 08e 09e

1 8 % CAGR ‘0 4 to ‘0 9

Online advertising spend to grow rapidly

Source: eMarketer

$bn Year

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Experian Interactive

Consumer Direct LowerMyBills Classes USA / Affiliate Fuel

Experian I nteractive Pro form a sales in year ended 3 1 March 2 0 0 6

PriceGrabber

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US mortgage market

500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06F 07F 08F Purchase originations Refinance originations

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association – April 2006

US m ortgage originations Year to Decem ber

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Experian - broad portfolio helps in tough economy

• UK consumer lending growth slowed in

calendar 2005

• Experian in UK still delivered organic sales

growth of 6% (2005: 7% )

• Credit slowdown reduced rate of growth in

core credit origination products, but offset by – Selling other products to financial services clients: fraud prevention, customer retention and collections tools – Selling more into non-traditional sectors: telecomms, public sector – Consumer Direct nearly trebled as have exclusive arrangements with top five UK portals

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Experian - cross-selling opportunities

• HSBC already a major global client for

Experian

• Recently signed global multi-million pound,

multi-year deal for Strategy Management software, initially in 22 countries

• Experian will enable up to 50bn customer

decisions annually

• Contract won due to

– High quality product – Global reach of Experian – Strength of existing relationship with Experian

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Experian International – growth record

100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 Sales (LHS) EBIT (RHS) £m £m Year to March

CAGR of 1 9 % sales and 2 2 % EBI T

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Contacts

GUS plc One Stanhope Gate London W 1 K 1 AF Tel: + 4 4 2 0 7 4 9 5 0 0 7 0 Fax: + 4 4 2 0 7 4 9 5 1 5 6 7 W ebsite: w w w .gusplc.com David Tyler Group Finance Director Tel: + 44 20 7 318 6204 Fax: + 44 20 7 318 6257 Email: david.tyler@gusplc.com Fay Dodds Director of I nvestor Relations Tel: + 44 20 7 318 6245 Fax: + 44 20 7 318 6253 Email: fay.dodds@gusplc.com Peter Blythe Director of Finance Tel: + 44 20 7 318 6230 Fax: + 44 20 7 318 6253 Email: peter.blythe@gusplc.com