News Release

THE BANKER’S BIG ISSUE

The Banker magazine, now in its 75th year, has completed its most successful issue ever. In a first for The Banker, the May issue carries three stand-alone supplements, taking the advertising revenue to an all time high. The May issue is the largest issue in its history. This performance is driven by the sales teams response to recent improvements in The Bankers quality, content and distribution.

Together the magazine and the supplements cover a cross section of the banking industry and provide in-depth insights and information on key trends, from technology through to customer service. Each supplement provides unbiased factual debate and offers an experts opinion on hot topics within the industry, for example one supplement gives the inside track on banking in China.

Supplements include:

‘Focus on customers’- how decision-makers can use data from the internet.

‘Straight through processing’ –systems for smoothing the communication path.

‘China Inside Banking’ –highs and lows of the Chinese stockmarket.

Nick Crawshaw, General Manager of FT Business said: “This performance takes the issue to 83% up year on year for May. The team have established The Banker as a core medium for IT advertisers, investment Bankers, FX treasury and the money market as well as its traditional core banking advertisers.”

More follows….

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Lisa Ashley, PR Executive, 020 7896 2128

• The Banker has successfully increased distribution from 14,000 ABC in ‘99 to 19,000 ABC in 2000 and currently distributes thirty thousand copies worldwide.
  
• In the recent Global Capital Markets Survey, endorsed by CNN, Financial Times and xx The Banker stole number one slot amongst monthly magazines for Europes Chief Financial Officers and treasures of Europes largest companies.
  
• Editorial has expanded coverage in all areas geographically and is now considered the watch-word for IT implementation and banking technologies.
  
  

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Financial Times Group, one of the world’s leading business information companies, aims to provide a broad range of business information and services to the growing audience of internationally minded business people. The Financial Times newspaper is printed in 18 cities around the world and has one of the world’s fastest growing international readerships. FT.com, the newspaper’s internet partner, combines agenda-setting editorial with relevant financial data and discussion groups, as well as a broad range of business tools including the largest search function on the internet.

2. The FT Group’s pan-European network of national business newspapers and online services include France’s leading business newspaper and website, Les Echos and lesechos.fr, and Spain’s leading business newspaper and website, expansiondirecto.com. In February 2000, the FT launched a new German language newspaper, FT Deutschland, with a fully integrated online business news and data service.

3. The FT Group also has a joint venture with CBSMarketwatch.com. FTMarketWatch.com provides free, fast, incisive, real-time financial and market news to Europe’s rapidly growing community of private investors.

4. FT Business produces specialist information information on the retail, personal and institutional finance industries. It publishes the UK’s premier personal finance magazine, Investors Chronicle, and The Banker, Money Management and Financial Adviser for professional advisers.

5. The Financial Times Group also has a stake in a number of joint ventures, including:

- FTSE International, a joint venture with the London Stock Exchange;

- A 60% stake in Data Broadcasting Corporation, (Nasdaq: DBCC), (www.dbc.com), a leading global provider of financial and business information to institutional and individual investors. Through FT Interactive Data (www.FTInteractiveData.com), DBC supplies global securities data and fixed income portfolio analytical software to the international investment community, and through its eSignal business, DBC delivers real-time, end-of-day and historically archived data;

- Vedomosti, Russia’s leading business newspaper and a partnership venture with Dow Jones and Independent Media;

- A 50% stake in BDFM, publishers of South Africa’s leading financial newspapers and website;

- A 50% stake in The Economist Group, which publishes the world’s leading weekly business and current affairs journal.