Preliminary Results 2008

Thursday 20 November 2008

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Daily Mail and General Trust plc ('DMGT')

Group unaudited preliminary results for the year ended 28th September, 2008.

*(before exceptional items and amortisation and impairment of intangible assets; see Consolidated Income Statement and reconciliation in Note 8).

Statutory results reflect amortisation, impairments and exceptional items.

RESILIENT PERFORMANCE IN DIFFICULT TRADING CONDITIONS

• Continued growth from the Group's business to business divisions despite the turmoil in financial and property markets.
• Commendable performance by Associated Newspapers, with the Mail titles further increasing their market share.
• Strong focus on cash generation and debt reduction. Revenue and cost initiatives put in place worth nearly £100m in order to counter anticipated
  advertising weakness and newsprint price increase.
• Bank facilities extended for up to five years.
• Final dividend maintained, giving 2.4% growth for the year, reflecting sh ort term concerns but real growth dividend policy reiterated over the
  cycle.

Martin Morgan, Chief Executive, said

"Our strategy of creating a diversified international portfolio of market-leading companies across both business and consumer products has
provided considerable overall resilience and leaves us well positioned to
deliver long-term growth. Although the worsening economic conditions had an
adverse impact on the newspaper and property businesses, our B2B divisions
continued to perform well. The short term outlook remains difficult and we are
taking decisive action to defend profitability. However, the Group's strong
cash flow will also allow continued selective investment to ensure our
businesses achieve their full potential."

A live webcast of the presentation of the Preliminary Results to City analysts will be available for viewing from 9.30 a.m. on 20th November, 2008 at
http://www.dmgt.co.uk.

Enquiries

Peter Williams, Finance Director Tel: 020 7938 6631

Nicholas Jennings, Company Secretary Tel: 020 7938 6625

Andrew Honnor/ Lizzie Morgan, Tulchan Communications Tel: 020 7353 4200

Daily Mail and General Trust plc

Contents

Management report

Condensed Consolidated Income Statement

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Recognised Income and Expenses

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet

Condensed Consolidated Cash Flow Statement

Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

Management report

This management report focuses on the adjusted results to give a more comparable indication of the Group's underlying business performance. A
discussion of other items included in the statutory results is given after the
divisional performance review and is set out in the segmental note. The
adjusted results are summarised below:

*Adjusted results are stated before amortisation and impairment of intangible
assets and exceptional items. For a reconciliation of Group profit to adjusted
Group profit, see Note 8.

~Underlying revenue or profit* is revenue or profit* on a like for like basis,
adjusted for acquisitions and disposals made in the current and prior year and
at constant exchange rates.

† Percentages are calculated on actual numbers to one decimal place.

Summary

Group revenue for the year was £2,312 million compared with £2,235 million for the prior year, representing growth of 3%. Operating profit* was 2% lower at £
317 million. Adjusted profits* before tax were £262 million, down 9% on the
equivalent figure for last year.

The Group has continued to follow its strategy of investing in product development to generate long-term growth. 62% of this year's operating profit*
was generated from outside the Group's print newspaper titles, up from 53% last
year. Further progress was made in building the Group's digital advertising
channels.

All of the Group's B2B divisions increased their profits*, despite economic conditions affecting DMG Information's property companies and DMG World Media's
remaining consumer exhibitions. The events experienced by financial markets and
institutions in September had no material impact on the year's results. The
average sterling: US dollar exchange rate was unchanged over the financial
year.

At Associated Newspapers, display advertising revenues grew slightly and circulation revenue was maintained. As expected, profits* were lower, due to
the additional costs of full colour printing, after the new Didcot plant came
on stream, and promotional investment in the property and motors digital
companies. Northcliffe Media was badly affected by the exceptionally
challenging local advertising markets as the impact of the credit crunch spread
across the wider economy. DMG Radio Australia moved back into profit*.

The statutory result was a loss before tax for the year of £68 million, after charging £68 million of foreign exchange losses on tax equalisation hedging
transactions, which cause an equal and opposite reduction in the tax charge,
and non-cash amortisation and impairment charges of £264 million. The statutory
after-tax result of £Nil reflected the benefit of exceptional tax credits.

Outlook

The new financial year has started with very challenging economic conditions, particularly in the UK. Our business to business divisions are generally
continuing to trade well, with the benefit of significant subscription
revenues, but our UK consumer media businesses are being affected. As a
consequence, we are taking decisive action to defend their profitability and,
more generally, to focus on cash generation and debt reduction. Measures we are
taking across the Group are worth approaching £100 million and will offset
downward pressure on advertising and upward pressure on newsprint prices.

For DMG Information, whilst much uncertainty remains in its markets, quite a number of its businesses expect to deliver growth even in these markets, and
all of its businesses are well positioned to deliver strong growth both during
any upturn and through the medium term. DMGI's business models are strong and
the range of product developments underway and the number of growth
opportunities remain encouraging.

Euromoney's current trading is in line with its expectations, but in such volatile markets it is difficult to predict how well sales will hold up beyond
the first quarter. October's revenues were ahead of last year and forward
revenues for the first quarter are ahead of the same time last year, but sales
for the past six weeks have shown signs of weakening. Having nearly 40% of its
revenues coming from subscription streams that continue to grow will provide
Euromoney with substantial stability.

For DMG World Media, the economic climate will have an impact on the rate of growth for certain exhibitions. There are continuing growth prospects in others
with particular strength in the Middle East and in Oil and Gas events.
Generally, we are seeing strength in market leading shows, and we are fortunate
that most of our major shows are in that position.

Our B2B divisions will benefit from the strengthening US dollar with each 5 cent rise in the average £:$ exchange rate estimated to improve full year
profits* by approximately £4 million.

Within Associated Newspapers, October has seen total advertising revenues, including display, down by 10%, but it is difficult to predict trading
performance for the rest of the first quarter, with even less visibility
thereafter. A plan has been implemented to improve revenues and to reduce costs
within Associated, including a Saturday cover price increase for the Daily Mail
and the combining of some functions within the Mail titles.

At Northcliffe Media, UK advertising trends have deteriorated further since the year end, particularly in the property and recruitment sectors, with October
revenues down on the prior year by 28%. Property revenues were 52% below the
prior year and recruitment revenues were down 37%. The gloomy economic outlook
points to extremely challenging conditions for our key advertising markets
throughout the coming year. A new regional operating structure has been
implemented which will allow us to benefit from our scale in the South West,
Midlands and North of England. We are reviewing all areas of expenditure and
expect to remove significant further costs from Northcliffe in the coming year.

In addition to the divisional cost cutting measures within Associated and Northcliffe, we have also established A&N Media, a structure to share services
across both divisions and to improve operational efficiency.

At DMG Radio Australia, we expect Nova further to improve its reach into its target demographic of all listeners aged 18-39 and we look for continued growth
from Vega.

Our focus is on managing the Group through the current difficult trading conditions, based on an assumption of no improvement during 2009. At the same
time, we will take advantage of opportunities to increase market share, to
launch new products and to leverage the strengths of the Group's diverse
portfolio. DMGT's long term strategy remains in place and we are confident that
the Group will emerge well from the current economic downturn.

Divisional Review

Business to business

DMG Information

In a year of turbulent property and financial markets DMGI was able to increase operating profits* by 6%. This reflected the crucial nature of the information
provided in our chosen niche markets and continuing investment in new products
and services to meet the changing needs of our clients. On a like for like
basis, underlying revenue~ increased by 5% and operating profit* was flat.

Insurance & Financial

Operating profit* from DMGI's insurance and financial companies rose by 18% to £41 million on revenues up 19% to £131 million.

Risk Management Solutions, which represents more than half of this division, continued its impressive growth record. As the world's leading provider of
solutions to assist the insurance sector in quantifying and managing
catastrophe and other risks, RMS grew revenues by 19% and, whilst pursuing its
strategy to expand its product range, also grew operating profits* by 17%.

Notwithstanding a virtual cessation of new issuance of asset-backed securities, the importance of the surveillance and monitoring products offered by Trepp,
serving the commercial mortgage-backed securities market, and Lewtan, providing
services to both issuers and investors in asset-backed securities, has been
evident with both companies increasing revenues and operating profits*, in
Trepp's case by more than 20%.

Property

Operating profit* from the property companies declined by 22% to £23 million, with revenues being 13% lower at £92 million.

In the UK, the volume of housing transactions plunged to record low levels during the second half of the year. This lack of activity in the marketplace
had a direct impact on revenues. Landmark has continued to invest in product
enhancements and extensions and is well positioned for a recovery in the
property market.

Commercial property transaction volumes also reduced significantly in both the US and UK, particularly affecting Environmental Data Resources and to a lesser
extent Landmark. Both EDR and Landmark continue to be innovative, expanding
their product offerings and the markets they serve. EDR grew its subscription
sales strongly and successfully increased penetration of sales to commercial
property lenders. Landmark acquired Inframation, a property information
business based in Germany.

Property & Portfolio Research enjoyed a good year, expanding the geographic reach of their property research and growing revenues by 23%.

Other

Operating profit* from DMGI's other business information companies rose by 38% to £15 million on revenues that were 18% higher at £92 million.

Genscape, a leading provider of real-time information to the energy trading markets, continued to grow strongly with revenues increasing by more than 20%
and margins improving.

Hobsons' education information business grew underlying~ revenues by 16%. It completed further bolt-on acquisitions, with College Confidential being added
in the US and the minority in NARIC acquired in the UK. Following the disposal
of its graduate recruitment information business, Hobsons is pursuing an
exciting growth strategy solely focused on providing products and services to
aid colleges and universities in the attraction, enrolment and retention of
students.

Sanborn enjoyed a good year with strong revenue and profit growth.

Euromoney Institutional Investor

Euromoney announced its record preliminary results last week. This operating performance is stated after deducting a charge for its management incentive
scheme, the CAP, £5 million lower than last year.

These results demonstrate the success of its strategy to build a high quality, more robust subscription-driven information business. Throughout 2008 the
business has demonstrated its resilience in the face of problems in global
credit markets, a gloomier economic outlook, and more recently the major impact
of the credit crisis on the world's leading financial institutions.

The diversity of Euromoney's revenue streams, geographic markets, product offerings and customer base helped sustain its trading through this difficult
period. Subscription revenues increased by 18% to £123 million and the
proportion of revenues derived from subscription products increased from 34% to
37%. Growth from emerging markets continued to compensate for weakness in the
developed financial markets, and emerging markets now account for nearly 50% of
revenues. Euromoney's strengths in sectors outside finance, particularly
metals, commodities and energy, is demonstrated by a 16% increase in revenues
from business publishing activities, which helped offset the weakness in some
financial sectors, particularly structured finance and hedge funds.

DMG World Media

dmg world media had a good year with increased revenues, operating profits* and operating margin* reflecting strong growth in its B2B and B2R sectors. On a
like for like basis, underlying~ revenues increased by 2% and operating profit*
by 8%.

Business to business ('B2B')

Revenues and profits* were up 18% and 30%, respectively. In the Technology Sector, strong performance from Evanta's existing executive summits and nine
new launches contributed to the sector's 20% profit* growth. Profits from the
Oil and Gas portfolio also increased substantially, driven by the largest
shows, the biennial Global Petroleum Show and the now annual Gastech, which
increased by 35% and 52%, respectively, from the previous shows. The Dubai
sector, comprising construction, interior design and hospitality shows,
reported a 15% increase in revenues, but a 1% decline in profits* due to
investment in people and infrastructure.

Business to Retail ('B2R')

The B2R division grew significantly in the year, following the acquisition of the remaining 51% interest of George Little Management (GLM) on 1st October,
2007. B2R's revenues more than doubled and profit* grew 93%. In the prior year,
GLM was reported as an associate. On a like for like basis, GLM grew its
profits* by 8%, but the total B2R division's underlying~ revenues were down 1%
and profits* down 8%, due a decline in its US West Coast gift shows.

Business to Consumer ('B2C')

B2C represented approximately 6% of dmg world media's operating profit* in the year. Overall this division performed poorly, with profits* declining by £5
million, driven by a decline in the UK consumer business. In July the North
American home shows were sold, followed by Antiques Trade Gazette just after
the year end for £7.5 million. The remaining UK consumer business is a small
non-core component of the division and one dominated by the Ideal Home Show,
which we are re-fashioning.

Consumer media

A&N Media

In September, the Group's national and local media businesses were restructured as A&N Media, creating a structure for the shared services already in place and
those to come. DMGT continues to report the results of these businesses
separately.

Associated Newspapers

Despite the challenging economic conditions in the second half of the financial year and the continued competitive activity in the London evening newspaper
market, Associated Newspapers achieved a commendable result. Total revenues
were flat year on year, underlining the strength of its core brands.

Newspaper operations

Circulation revenue grew by 1% to £382 million. The circulation of both the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday again performed ahead of the market,
reflecting strong editorial and promotional activity. The Evening Standard also
grew its circulation. The free newspapers performed well with Metro achieving a
readership of over 3 million. London Lite maintained its distribution, reaching
1 million readers which is now consistently ahead of the rival free newspaper.
Costs, benefiting from a fall in the price of newsprint from 1st January, were
up by only 2% year on year despite the additional costs of full colour
printing.

Print advertising was down 2%; display advertising was up 1% but classified advertising was down 12%. Investment in the titles' companion websites resulted
in a 33% increase in traffic and a near trebling of total digital revenues from
these sites to £9 million. Our largest display advertising category, retail,
grew by 3% and all other categories were up, except for travel (down 9%) and
motors (down 2%).

Harmsworth Printing successfully completed its press enhancement programme on schedule in January of this year. The final stage of the colour investment
programme culminated with the commissioning of full colour capability at Surrey
Quays.

Associated Northcliffe Digital

Revenue grew by 3% to £88 million across AND's jobs, property, motors and dating businesses, an underlying~ increase of 12%. Operating profit* fell by £6
million to £5 million as a result of promotional investment in the property and
motors digital companies. This will continue in the coming year and will be
supplemented by a multimedia advertising campaign at Jobsite.

The AND network now extends to over 150 sites, reaching 24% of all UK internet users, making it one of the largest players in the UK digital media industry.
AND continued to acquire "bolt-on" value-enhancing assets. In conjunction with
this product development strategy, we invested heavily in building brand
awareness.

Teletext

Teletext reduced its operating loss* by £1 million to £3 million. Revenues were unchanged at £41 million despite a fall in revenues from its television
activities of 13%. Teletext's online services have now moved into profit, and
it extended its ThisisTravel brand in April to become a retail operation
selling holidays directly to consumers through its own branded web-site and its
television services. Villarenters, offering self-catering villa holiday
accommodation, also performed well.

Northcliffe Media

UK regional advertising markets were exceptionally challenging in 2008. On a like for like basis, underlying revenues declined 11%, with the last quarter
down an unprecedented 23%. On the other hand, our European businesses continued
to grow, mainly fuelled by further progress from their digital activities.

UK

Northcliffe's underlying~ operating profit* was down 32% on a like for like basis with comparable revenues down 8%. All categories of advertising fell in
the year with the rate of decline accelerating almost on a monthly basis since
the first signs of weakness appeared at the start of the year.

Property advertising was down 22% as estate agents reduced their advertising budgets in early spring in the face of an ailing property market. The cutbacks
were so severe that in the month of September, property advertising was only
half of that achieved in September 2007.

Recruitment advertising declined by 11% with the growing uncertainty in the economy resulting in steep falls in the second half of the year as businesses
reined back on recruitment plans. In September, recruitment advertising fell by
30% on a like for like basis.

Motors advertising fell by 12%. New car sales posted significant reductions in the September quarter due to fewer private buyers. Furthermore there was
continued online migration and structural changes in the industry arising from
consolidation amongst the major franchise holders and increasing numbers of
used car dealers going out of business.

UK digital revenues grew on a like for like basis by 42% to £17 million, representing 6% of all advertising income. During the year, Northcliffe
consolidated its relationships with AND's digital pure play businesses. This
was evidenced through targeted marketing support which included rebranding all
print supplements to align with the digital products.

Newspaper circulation revenues fell on a like for like basis by 3% to £73 million. Some cover price increases were taken during the year but, for others,
price increases were delayed to minimise any adverse impact on sales. For the
January to June 2008 ABC period, Northcliffe's weeklies were down by 4.5%
compared to an industry decline of just over 5%. In contrast, our daily titles
underperformed the industry average, down just over 6% compared to an industry
decline of 5%.

Central Europe

Northcliffe's portfolio of print and digital business in Central Europe performed well, delivering local currency profit* growth of 6%. In sterling
terms, its operating profit* rose 15% to £8 million with revenues on a like for
like basis up 20% to £43 million.

The growth came from the digital activities in the business. Profesia, the market leading Slovakian recruitment website, continued to grow strongly.
Revenues were up by 29%, most of which was reinvested in the expansion of its
digital network in the Czech Republic and Hungary. In Croatia, the market
leading recruitment website, MojPosao, which was acquired in March 2007,
continued to exceed expectations.

DMG Radio Australia

DMG Radio Australia returned to profitability, driven by underlying~ revenue growth of 24%, against market growth of 6% nationally.

Network performance

The improvement in performance was driven by a year of strong growth for the national Nova network which recorded an increase in operating profit* of 61% on
the prior year.

Despite continued weakness in the Sydney advertising market, the Nova network achieved revenue growth of 22%, driven largely by an increase in its share of
national revenue.

The Nova network was again the number one national network in its target demographic of all listeners aged 18-39 with Nova Brisbane continuing its
leadership of the Brisbane market, achieving the number one overall position in
every survey across the year.

Vega FM stations in Sydney and Melbourne reduced their losses, but less than had been expected. They continued to grow their target audience of 40-54 year
olds, with Vega Sydney achieving the leading position in this demographic in
Survey 5, 2008 for the first time.

Unallocated central costs

Unallocated central costs were substantially unchanged. Higher overheads were offset by a lower financing component as a result of the surplus on the Group's
defined benefit pension schemes at the start of the year.

Other income statement items

* Net finance costs

Net interest payable and similar charges (excluding swap premia) rose by £5 million to £75 million due to higher average net debt. Income from tax
equalisation swap premia fell by £7 million due to market movements.

The Group's interest cover, calculated as the ratio of adjusted profits* before interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to net interest payable
(excluding swap premia), was 5.2 times this year, down from 5.8 in 2007. The
Group's ratio of year end net debt to EBITDA was 2.7 times, just above the
Group's target of 2.5 times. The Group has two main banking covenants which are
that: net debt must not be more than 4 times EBITDA; and EBITDA must exceed 3
times net interest.

Dividend income fell by £1.2 million due mainly to a lower distribution by GCap Media plc and to the sale of the Group's remaining interest in June.

* Other items

The Group's share of the results* of its joint ventures and associates fell by £5.6 million to £0.4 million reflecting the reclassification of GLM as a
subsidiary from the start of the year. The main item is now DMG Radio
Australia's joint ventures which increased their contribution, but this was
offset by our share of increased losses of India Today, a start-up venture.

The Group has charged £32 million as exceptional operating costs. This charge comprised reorganisation, restructuring and closure costs within Associated,
Northcliffe and DMG World Media.

The charge for amortisation of intangible assets rose by £5 million to £91 million. The Group also made an impairment charge of £173 million, principally
relating to more recently acquired regional media assets and to a number of
consumer and gift shows. The charge also included the half year write down of £
14 million of the Group's original investment in GLM, arising purely from the
Group's IFRS transition election on 4th October, 2004 and matched by an equal
and opposite credit to reserves.

An exceptional gain of £10 million arose within income from associates on the sale of the main business of Centurion (formerly Indigo Holidays). The Group
recorded other gains and losses of £28 million, compared to £36 million last
year. This comprised mainly net exceptional profits of £24 million on the sale
of businesses and gains of £14 million on the sale of surplus properties and
investments, offset by impairments of investments of £10 million.

The Group recorded £68 million of foreign exchange losses on hedges of intra-group financing. This foreign exchange loss is excluded from adjusted
profit because an equal and opposite credit is excluded from the adjusted tax
charge.

* Taxation

After allowing for the effect of exceptional and other items that are not expected to recur, the underlying tax rate fell from 26.3% to 24.0%. The fall
reflects tax reductions from tax-efficient financing and increased tax
deductible amortisation in the US that are expected to recur. Over the next few
years the adjusted rate is expected to remain at around this rate, but
eventually to increase to around 30%.

There were net exceptional tax credits of £148 million, being the write back of prior year provisions, together with the £68 million tax credit on exchange
differences on intra-group financings.

Pensions

The Group's defined benefit pension schemes have moved from a surplus of £81 million last year end to a deficit of £41 million at 28th September 2008
(calculated in accordance with IAS 19). This change is primarily due to a fall
in the market value of the schemes' assets, partly offset by a reduction in the
value attributed to its liabilities because of higher bond yields.

A funding agreement has been concluded with the trustees to the end of December 2010. The schemes are currently neutral in cash flow terms and so are not
needing to sell assets to meet liabilities.

Net debt and cash flow

Net debt rose marginally during the year from £951 million to £1,015 million. The Group generated free cash flow of £182 million which was used to pay
dividends and make share repurchases totalling £154 million and acquisitions of
£207 million, partly offset by disposals of investments and businesses of £146
million.

The main acquisitions were made in the first half of the year, principally GLM for £77 million and the purchase of £27 million of Euromoney shares, increasing
the Group's stake to 66%. The main disposals have also all been reported
previously and were the Group's investment in GCap Media plc, Hobsons' European
graduate businesses, our North America Home Interest shows and Dolphin
Software. Up until February, the Group spent £88 million on acquiring its `A'
Ordinary shares. No further purchases are planned in the foreseeable future as
the Group concentrates on reducing its debt.

As reported in September, the Group has extended all its bank facilities for a further three to five years with no change in basic financial covenants. Most
of the Group's debt remains in long-term bonds, the earliest of which is not
repayable until 2013.

Dividend

The Board is recommending payment on the issued Ordinary and 'A' Ordinary Non-Voting shares of the Company of a final dividend of 9.90 pence per share
for the year ended 28th September, 2008 (2007 9.90 pence). This will make a
total for the year of 14.70 pence (2007 14.35 pence per share), up 2% on last
year. The final dividend will be paid on 13th February 2009 to shareholders on
the register at close of business on 28th November 2008.

The Board considered it appropriate in the current circumstances to hold the final dividend at last year's level, but is maintaining its policy of
increasing the dividend in real terms over the cycle.

Board Change

Ian Park has decided to stand down as a Director of the Company at the Annual General Meeting on 11th February, 2009. He joined the Group as managing
director of Northcliffe which he led from 1983 to 1995. During over 14 years on
the Board, he has made an invaluable contribution to its deliberations. His
assistance and advice to the Group's executives have been greatly appreciated.

The Viscount Rothermere
Chairman

*References to operating profit or loss or share of the results of joint ventures and associates in the narrative above are to adjusted operating profit
or loss or adjusted share of the results of joint ventures and associates
before amortisation and impairment of intangible assets and exceptional items);
see notes 2 and 3.

The average £:$ exchange rate for the year was £1: $1.97 (against £1:$1.97 last year).

For further information

For analyst and institutional enquiries:

Peter Williams, Finance Director 020 7938 6631

Nicholas Jennings, Company Secretary 020 7938 6625

For media enquiries:

Andrew Honnor, Tulchan Communications 020 7353 4200

Analysts' presentation and webcast

A presentation of the Preliminary Results will be given to investors and analysts at 9.30 a.m. on 20th November, 2008 at the offices of JP Morgan
Cazenove, 20 Moorgate, London, EC2R 6DA. There will also be a live webcast
available on our website: http://www.dmgt.co.uk.

Next trading update

The Group's next scheduled announcement of financial information will be its first quarter interim management statement on 11th February 2009.

Daily Mail and General Trust plc
Summary Consolidated Income Statement for the year ended 28th September, 2008

Consolidated statement of recognised income and expense

for the year ended 28th September, 2008

Consolidated reconciliation of movements in equity

for the year ended 28th September, 2008

Consolidated cash flow statement

for the year ended 28th September, 2008

Consolidated balance sheet

for the year ended 28th September, 2008

Approved by the Board on 19th November, 2008.

Notes

1. Basis of preparation

DMGT is a company incorporated in the United Kingdom under the Companies Act
1985. The address of the registered office is Northcliffe House, 2 Derry
Street, London, W8 5TT.

The financial information set out in this unaudited preliminary announcement
does not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the years ended 28th
September, 2008 or 30th September, 2007. The financial information for the year
ended 30th September, 2007 is derived from the statutory accounts for that year
which have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditors reported
on those accounts; their report was unqualified, did not draw attention to any
matters by way of emphasis without qualifying their report and did not contain
a statement under s237(2) or (3) Companies Act 1985. Whilst the financial
information included in this unaudited preliminary announcement has been
computed in accordance with IFRS, this unaudited preliminary announcement does
not itself contain sufficient information to comply with IFRS.

The audit of the statutory accounts for the year ended 28th September, 2008 is not yet complete. These accounts will be finalised on the basis of the
financial information presented by the directors in this unaudited preliminary
announcement and will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies following the
company's annual general meeting. This unaudited preliminary announcement was
approved by the Board on 19th November, 2008 for release.

These financial statements have also been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the 2007 Annual Report and Accounts, as amended
by the following new accounting standards.

Impact of new accounting standards

In the current year, the Group has adopted the following standards:

• IFRS 7, Financial Instruments: Disclosures and IAS 1, Presentation of Financial Statements (effective for periods beginning on or after 1st January,
  2007). The impact of the adoption of IFRS 7 and the changes to IAS 1 has been
  to expand the disclosures provided in the Group's financial statements
  regarding financial instruments and management of capital.
• IFRIC 11 IFRS 2 Group and Treasury Share Transactions (effective for periods beginning on or after 1st March, 2007). The adoption of this interpretation has
  not had any significant impact on the Group's financial statements. At the date of authorisation of these financial statements, the following
  standards have been issued but not applied to the information herein since they
  do not apply to this reporting period:
• Amendment to IAS 1, Presentation of Financial Statements (effective for periods commencing on or after 1st January, 2009). This amendment introduces
  changes to the way in which movements in equity must be disclosed and requires
  an entity to disclose each component of other comprehensive income not
  recognised in profit or loss. The amendment also requires disclosure of the
  amount of income tax relating to each component of other comprehensive income
  as well as several other minor disclosure amendments.
• Amendment to IAS 23, Borrowing Costs (effective for periods commencing on or after 1st January, 2009). This standard requires all borrowing costs which are
  directly attributable to an acquisition construction or production of a
  qualifying asset to form part of the cost of that asset. The Group does not
  expect a significant impact from this standard.
• Amendment to IAS 27, Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements (effective for periods commencing on or after 1st July, 2009). The amendment
  introduces changes to the accounting for partial disposals of subsidiaries,
  associates and joint ventures. Adoption of these amendments is not expected to
  significantly impact the measurement, presentation or disclosure of future
  disposals.
• Amendments to IAS 32, Puttable financial instruments and obligations arising on liquidation (effective for periods beginning on or after 1st January, 2009).
  The amendments are relevant to entities that have issued financial instruments
  that are (i) puttable financial instruments or (ii) instruments, or components
  of instruments that impose on the entity an obligation to deliver to another
  party a pro-rata share of the net assets on liquidation only. As a result of
  the amendments, some financial instruments that currently meet the definition
  of a financial liability will be classified as equity because they represent
  the residual interest in the net assets of the entity. The amendments set out
  extensive detailed criteria to be met in order to be able to classify these
  instruments as equity. The impact of these amendments is restricted to specific
  cases and no analogies can be made. The Group does not expect a significant
  impact from the adoption of this standard.
• Amendments to IAS 39, Financial instruments: Recognition and Measurement (effective for periods commencing on or after 1st July, 2009). The amendments
  clarify treatment of inflation in a financial hedged item and one-sided risks
  in a hedged item. The Group does not expect a significant impact from the
  adoption of this standard.
• Amendment to IFRS 2, Share-based Payment (effective for periods commencing on or after 1st January, 2009). The amendment clarifies that vesting conditions
  are service conditions and performance conditions only. Other features of a
  share-based payment are not vesting conditions. It also specifies that all
  cancellations, whether by the entity or by other parties, should receive the
  same accounting treatment. The Group does not expect a significant impact from
  the adoption of this standard.
• Amendment to IFRS 3, Business Combinations (effective for periods commencing on or after 1st July, 2009). The amendment introduces changes that will require
  acquisition related costs (including professional fees previously capitalised)
  to be expensed and adjustments to contingent consideration to be recognised in
  income and will allow the full goodwill method to be used when accounting for
  non-controlling interests. This will result in a change to the Group's
  accounting policy for purchases of stakes in controlled entities.
  

IFRS 8, Operating Segments (effective for periods beginning on or after 1st January, 2009). IFRS 8 sets out disclosure requirements concerning an entity's
operating segments, products, services, geographical areas in which it operates
and its major customers. IFRS 8 replaces IAS 14, Segmental Reporting. Adoption
of this standard is not expected to change the disclosures already made in the
DMGT Report and Accounts significantly.

2008 Annual Improvements (the majority of changes will effect periods beginning on or after 1st January, 2009). The standard makes 41 amendments to 25 IFRSs as
part of the first annual improvements project. The amendments include:
restructuring IFRS 1, mainly to remove redundant transitional provisions; an
amendment to bring property under construction or development for future use as
for future use as an investment property within the scope of IAS 40. Such
property currently falls within the scope of IAS 16; and an amendment to
clarify the circumstances in which an entity can recognise a prepayment asset
for advertising or promotional expenditure. Recognition of an asset would be
permitted up to the point at which the entity has access to the goods purchased
or up to the point of receipt of services. The standard is not expected to have
a significant impact on the Group. In relation to the amendment to IAS 38
regarding prepayments for advertising or promotional expenditure, the Group
will be required to reassess its accounting approach to reflect the
requirements of the standard.

The following interpretations have been issued which are not applicable to the Group since they are only effective for accounting periods beginning on or
after 28th September, 2008. The adoption of these interpretations is not
expected to have any significant impact on the Group's financial statements.

• IFRIC 12 Service Concession Agreements (effective for periods beginning on or after 1st January, 2008)
• IFRIC 13 Customer Loyalty Programmes (effective for periods beginning on or after 1st July, 2008)
• IFRIC 14 The Limit on a Defined Benefit Asset Minimum Funding Requirements and their Interaction (effective for periods beginning on or after 1st January,
  2008)
• IFRIC 15, Agreements for the Construction of Real Estate (effective for periods beginning on or after 1st January, 2009)
• IFRIC 16, Hedges of a Net Investment in a Foreign Operation (effective for periods beginning on or after 1st October, 2008)

2. Segment Analysis

By activity

The Group's business activities are currently split into six operating divisions - business information, Euromoney Institutional Investor (Euromoney),
exhibitions, national media (previously known as national newspapers and
related activities), local media and radio. These divisions are the basis on
which the Group reports its primary segment information. Each segment includes
its respective associated electronic products.

Revenue comprises Group sales excluding value added tax, less discounts and commission where applicable and is analysed by segment as follows:

By geographic area

The majority of the Group's operations are located in the United Kingdom, the rest of Europe, North America and Australia.

The geographic analysis below is based on the location of companies in these regions. Export sales and related profits are included in the areas from which
those sales are made. Revenue in each geographic market in which customers are
located is not disclosed as there is no material difference between the two.

Revenue is analysed by geographic area as follows :

Analysis of profit from operations before exceptional operating costs, amortisation and impairment charges, by activity:

The Group's exceptional operating costs comprised exhibitions restructuring costs totalling £4.5 million, together with reorganisation costs of £18.7
million within national media and £8.6 million within local media.

Operating profit/(loss) from continuing operations before share of joint ventures and associates result is analysed by segment as follows :

3. Share of results of joint ventures and associates

(i) Represents the Group's share of Centurion Holiday Group Limited's (formerly Indigo Holidays Limited) profit on disposal of Hotels4u.com.

(ii) Centurion Holiday Group Limited was liquidated during the year. The carrying value was written down to the proceeds received on liquidation.

4. Other gains and losses

The profit on sale of businesses mainly comprises the sale of Consumer North American Home Shows in the exhibitions division, Dolphin and the European
business of Hobsons within business information and British Pathe within
national media.

In the prior year the profit on deemed disposal of Euromoney arose following Euromoney's issue of £65.0 million new share capital to the shareholders of
Metal Bulletin plc thereby reducing the Group's interest in Euromoney.

5. Investment revenue

6. Finance costs

Tax equalisation swap income and the gain/(loss) from tax equalisation options totalling £19.8 million (2007 £27.1 million) arises from the economic hedging
of tax on foreign exchange movements. The foreign exchange loss on tax
equalisation arrangements of £67.8 million (2007 £10.3 million) is excluded
from adjusted profit since it is equal to a reduced tax charge (see note 7). In
addition, the foreign exchange loss on intra group financing, premium on
repurchase of bonds and the change in fair value of acquisition put options are
also excluded from adjusted profits.

The finance charge on the discounting of deferred consideration arises from the requirement under IFRS 3, Business Combinations to discount deferred
consideration back to current values.

<p7. Tax

Being a multinational Group with tax affairs in many geographic locations
inherently leads to a highly complex tax structure which makes the degree of
estimation and judgement more challenging. Since the Group manages its tax
affairs on a Group wide basis it does not report a segmental analysis of the
tax charge in the income statement.

Adjusted tax on profits before amortisation and impairment of intangible
assets, restructuring costs and non-recurring items (adjusted tax charge)
amounted to £62.8 million (2007 £75.9 million) and the resulting rate is 24.0%
(2007 26.3%). The differences between the tax credit and the adjusted tax
charge are shown in the reconciliation below:

8. Adjusted profit (before exceptional operating costs and amortisation and impairment of goodwill and intangible assets, other gains and losses and
exceptional financing costs, after taxation and minority interests)

The adjusted minority share of profits for the year of £18.1 million (2007 £ 19.8 million) is stated after eliminating a credit of £1.2 million (2007 £4.5
million), being the minority share of exceptional items.

9. Earnings/(loss) per share

Basic earnings per share of 0.0 p (2007 27.3 p) and diluted loss per share of 0.2 p (2007 earnings 27.1 p) are calculated, in accordance with IAS 33 Earnings
per share, on Group profit for the financial year of £nil (2007 £107.0 million)
and on the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year
as set out below.

As in previous years, adjusted earnings per share have also been disclosed since the Directors consider that this alternative measure gives a more
comparable indication of the Group's underlying trading performance. Adjusted
earnings per share of 47.9 p (2007 49.3 p) are calculated on profit before
exceptional operating costs, amortisation and impairment of goodwill and
intangible assets, after charging the taxation and minority interests
associated with those profits, of £180.9 million (2007 £192.5 million), as set
out in Note 8 above, and on the basic weighted average number of ordinary
shares in issue during the year as set out below.

The weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year for the purpose of these calculations is as follows:

10. Analysis of net debt

11. Retirement benefits

The newspaper divisions of the Group operate a number of pension schemes covering most major UK group companies under which contributions are paid by
the employer and employees. The schemes for most employees are funded defined
benefit pension arrangements providing service-related benefits based on final
pensionable salary and are administered by trustee companies.

During the year trust-based defined contribution pension plans were progressively being replaced by group personal pension plans, a process that
was substantially complete at the year end. The trust-based plans will be wound
up during 2009.

The assets of all the pension schemes and plans are held independently from the Group's finances.

The total net pension costs of the Group for the year ended 28th September, 2008 were £20.5 million (2007 £31.1 million).

A reconciliation of the net pension obligation reported in the balance sheet is shown in the following table:

12. This preliminary announcement was approved by the Board on 19th November, 2008.

Highlights of this announcement will be advertised on 20th November, 2008 in the Evening Standard, on 21st November, 2008 in the Daily Mail, Metro, Western
Morning News and the Western Daily Press and on 23rd November, 2008 in The Mail
on Sunday. It is expected that the Annual Report and Accounts will be posted to
those shareholders who have requested it on or before 14th January, 2009 and
posted on the Company's website at www.dmgt.co.uk the following morning.

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