INTERIM RESULTS

31/03/2004

HIGHLIGHTS
(six months ended 31 January 2004)
Net revenue up 7.3% at £18.5m (2003: £17.3m)

Profit before tax up 4.1% at £1.06m (2003:£1.01m)

Adjusted profit up 4.6% at £1.24m (2003: £1.19m) (see note 5 to the Interim accounts)

Interim dividend per share 0.3p (2003: 0.3p)

Basic earnings per share 1.59p (2003:1.57p)

Adjusted earnings per share 1.92p (2003: 1.93p)(see note 8 to the Interim accounts)

Net funds position remains strong (after acquisition funding) at £2.2m (2003: £3.1m)
Commenting on the results Chairman Will Whitehorn said:

"Recovery in our markets has been slow and patchy. Nevertheless the Group has produced pleasing results and, despite the adverse effects of the weakness of the US$ in the second half, we expect further good underlying progress."

CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S STATEMENT

Next Fifteen Communications Group plc, the global public relations group, is pleased to report an improved performance in the six months to 31 January 2004. The Group has benefited from an upturn in market conditions in North America and parts of Asia, although there is continued uncertainty in some European markets. Against this backdrop the company reports increases in both pre-tax profit and net revenue. Pre-tax profit rose 4.1% to £1.06m from £1.01m for the same period last year, while net revenue rose to £18.5m from £17.3m last year, a growth of 7.3%. In view of this performance and of the strong cash position of the Group, the Board is pleased to maintain the interim dividend of 0.3p.

The results include £1.77m of turnover from the acquisition of Applied Communications' PR and research businesses in September of last year. However, during the later part of this period the Group suffered as a result of the decline in the value of the US dollar, as over 40% of turnover is in dollars or dollar-linked currencies. With a constant dollar, turnover from existing operations would have been 2.4% higher than reported.

Since the company last updated investors it has seen its North American and Asian businesses continue to improve. Text 100's North American operations in particular produced a strong performance, increasing revenue by 10% in dollar terms, with new business secured from Fuji Film, Earthlink, and Bang & Olufsen. Outside North America, Text 100 has expanded its presence in Asia with the opening of its Shanghai office, the second in mainland China. This operation services clients including IBM and ARM.

AUGUST.ONE, as mentioned in the AGM Trading Update, had a tough start to the year in the UK. The UK office saw several major client assignments delayed or cancelled resulting in poorer than expected performance. These setbacks caused the management at AUGUST.ONE and Next Fifteen to review the company's long-term focus, which led to a recent restructuring of its overseas operations, to enable greater management resources to be applied to the core UK business. AUGUST.ONE's businesses in Australia and New Zealand will be merged into Text 100's existing operations, a move that will make Text 100 one of the largest technology-led agencies in Asia Pacific. In the UK, as client spending restarts we expect AUGUST.ONE to recover as the second half unfolds but we anticipate it will hold back overall profit growth.

The Group's acquisition of Applied Communications' operations is going well. The vast majority of these activities were merged into Bite Communications to expand its North American operations. Since the acquisition this business, which was in decline, has not only been stabilised but has also secured several new client wins including work from Alteris, Ximenta and Ironport, putting Bite's North American revenue ahead of our previous forecasts for the year, in dollar terms.

The Group still has a strong balance sheet with net funds of £2.2m. The total cash outflow in the first half was £1.3m, of which £0.4m related to the acquisition of the Applied businesses and £0.7m for the working capital required to fund them. The Group also made tax and dividend payments weighted towards the first half. The Group was cash-positive at the operating level in the first half and expects to be strongly cash-positive overall in the second half as these non-operational factors reduce. The strong cash balance leaves the Group favourably positioned to continue its growth.

Despite the issues at AUGUST.ONE and the negative impact of the weak dollar, the Group expects to show growth for the full year, both in revenue and in pre-tax profit. Looking to the remainder of 2004, the Group is optimistic that its North American businesses will continue to expand. Across Europe some markets remain challenging, but the Group believes that on balance its strength in North America and the improvement in Asia will offset the challenges it still faces in some European markets.

Will Whitehorn Tim Dyson
Chairman Chief Executive Officer

31 March 2004

NEXT FIFTEEN COMMUNICATIONS GROUP PLC

INDEPENDENT REVIEW REPORT TO NEXT FIFTEEN COMMUNICATIONS GROUP PLC

Introduction

We have been instructed by the Company to review the financial information for the six months ended 31 January 2004 which comprises the profit and loss account, the statement of total recognised gains and losses, the balance sheet, the cash flow statement and related notes 1 to 11. We have read the other information contained in the interim report and considered whether it contains any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the financial information.

This report is made solely to the Company in accordance with Bulletin 1999/4 issued by the Auditing Practices Board. Our work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Company those matters we are required to state to them in an independent review report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Company, for our review work, for this report, or for the conclusions we have formed.

Directors' responsibilities

The interim report, including the financial information contained therein, is the responsibility of, and has been approved by, the directors. The directors are responsible for preparing the interim report in accordance with the Listing Rules of the Financial Services Authority which require that the accounting policies and presentation applied to the interim figures are consistent with those applied in preparing the preceding annual accounts except where any changes, and the reasons for them, are disclosed.

Review work performed

We conducted our review in accordance with the guidance contained in Bulletin 1999/4 issued by the Auditing Practices Board for use in the United Kingdom. A review consists principally of making enquiries of group management and applying analytical procedures to the financial information and underlying financial data and, based thereon, assessing whether the accounting policies and presentation have been consistently applied unless otherwise disclosed. A review excludes audit procedures such as tests of controls and verification of assets, liabilities and transactions. It is substantially less in scope than an audit performed in accordance with United Kingdom auditing standards and therefore provides a lower level of assurance than an audit. Accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion on the financial information.

Review conclusion

On the basis of our review we are not aware of any material modifications that should be made to the financial information as presented for the six months ended 31 January 2004.

Deloitte & Touche LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London
31 March 2004

Notes: A review does not provide assurance on the maintenance and integrity of the website, including controls used to achieve this, and in particular on whether any changes may have occurred to the financial information since first published. These matters are the responsibility of the directors but no control procedures can provide absolute assurance in this area.

Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial information differs from legislation in other jurisdictions.

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