Reed Elsevier Financial Statement

[Ann Okerson <aokerson@pantheon.yale.edu>]

Of possible interest, from a reader; and then a comment from Daviess 
Menefee of Elsevier.
__

The following is from The Wall Street Journal,  Friday February 20, 2004,
p. A 8:

Net Gains 85% on Lower Costs, But Weaker 2004 is Expected

Anglo - Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier Group PLC said 2003 net profit was
334 million pounds sterling { $ 630.5 million }, up 85% from 181 million
pounds sterling in 2002, boosted by lower interest expenses.  It said
pretax profit, adjusted for currency effects, achieved double - digit
percentage growth in 2003, but won't show that growth in 2004.  Revenue
fell 2% to 4.93 billion pounds sterling.  Growth in science and medical
publisher Elsevier and legal publisher Lexis -Nexis were offset by the
weakness in Harcourt Education and Reed Business markets.  Reed Elsevier
also publishes entertainment magazine Variety.

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Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 
From: "Menefee, Daviess (ELS)" <D.Menefee@elsevier.com>
Subject: Reed Elsevier Financial Statement

Recently there have been postings to the Reed Elsevier list regarding the
interim financial statement posted by Reed Elsevier and discussions of it
in the media.  The following is Elsevier' response to these comments.

Chuck Hamaker was quite right in his posting to that list on Feb. 20 to
suggest that net income is not the same thing as profit.  Reed Elsevier
provides both figures, to any commentators who require them, but
shareholders and business analysts usually look at other figures when
reviewing a company's progress, including, revenues, profits, and earnings
per share.  Anyone who wants to view Reed Elsevier's financial reports can
do so at www.reedelsevier.com.

Daviess Menefee
Library Relations
Elsevier