RNS Number:3783Q
De Vere Group PLC
01 October 2003


De Vere Group Plc
Embargoed for release - 0700 hrs, Wednesday 1 October 2003


                    Trading Update for the 52 week period
                      ended Sunday 28 September 2003

De Vere Group Plc, the hotels and health & fitness group, today provides a
pre-close period update on trading for the 52 week period ended 28 September
2003.

                              De Vere Hotels     Village Hotels & Leisure Clubs
Like-for-like Occupancy          -0.3pts                    0.1pts
Like-for-like Room Rate            +2.7%                     +2.1%
Like-for-like RevPAR               +2.4%                     +2.1%
Like-for-like Turnover             +2.4%                     +4.6%
Total Turnover                     +3.0%                    +11.8%

Total turnover for the Group rose by 6.1%.  In De Vere Hotels, turnover
increased by 3.0%, and a good performance from Village Hotels and Leisure Clubs
saw turnover increase by 11.8%. These results were delivered despite challenging
trading conditions, which continued to place some pressure on margins.

Strong demand for leisure breaks and an increase in demand for smaller
conference events over the Summer has resulted in like-for-like RevPAR growth of
2.4% within De Vere Hotels. Village continues to maintain high occupancy of 79%,
with a 2.1% increase in like-for-like RevPAR driven by the improvement in
average room rate. Health & fitness membership within Village was steady at
57,000 (2002: 56,800).

Greens total turnover increased by 26.2% with a membership of 63,900 (2002:
59,300). Against the backdrop of a highly competitive marketplace, like-for-like
sales increased by 1.0% for the year. Operating profit within Greens is expected
to reach around #2.3m (2002: #1.3m) driven by an increased focus on profit
conversion.

The Group's brands have again delivered a robust performance, demonstrating
their continued strength and resilience.  This gives the Board ongoing
confidence in the growth prospects for the Group as trading conditions improve.

The preliminary results for the 52 week period ending 28 September 2003 will be
announced on Wednesday 3 December 2003.


Enquiries:

Jonathan Glass                      Brunswick                      0207 404 5959
Simon Sporborg


Notes to Editors

De Vere Group overview

De Vere Group Plc is a focused hotel and health & fitness business with three
core and complementary operations: De Vere Hotels, Village Leisure and Greens.

De Vere Hotels is an upmarket, primarily provincial hotel chain targeted at the
conference, corporate and leisure markets.  There are 21 De Vere Hotels,
including 13 golf courses and the majority have extensive leisure facilities.
Twelve associate hotels enjoy access to the Group's marketing and central
reservations services and are included in De Vere hotel brochures. In addition,
De Vere Resort Ownership, the UK's largest five star lodge operator, has 132
lodges.

Village Leisure Hotels is a unique mix, with each Village consisting of a
mid-market, c100-bedroom hotel, 40,000 square foot health & fitness club and
extensive food and beverage operations.  There are currently 14 Villages with
more under construction and further sites in the pipeline.

Greens is the De Vere Group's stand-alone health & fitness club brand.  The
clubs are large (40,000 square feet each) with spacious, well-equipped gyms,
25-metre pools, aerobics studios, steam rooms, saunas and spas.  It is targeted
at adults, rather than families, and is aimed at the premium end of the market.
The first Greens opened in July 1999 and there are now 15 in operation.

www.deveregroupplc.co.uk

www.devereonline.co.uk

www.villagehotelsonline.co.uk



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