Short Selling Disclosure Provident Financial Plc

TR-4(1):   Disclosure of Short Position relating to UK Financial Sector Company(2)

1. Full name of person(s)
holding the disclosable       Gbl Ascent European Industries (653064)
short position(3):

2: Name of the issuer of the
relevant securities           Provident Financial Plc

3: Disclosable short          0.28%
position(4)
4. Date that disclosable      30 January 2009
short position was held




(1)  This form, or the information contained within it, should be disclosed via an
RIS using the short code SSD.
(2) This form relates to the disclosure of short positions in compliance with the
FSA's Short Selling (NO2) Instrument and the related FAQ document on the FSA's
website.
(3) Specify the owner or controller of the interest. The naming of nominees or
vehicle companies is insufficient. In the case of positions held by fund
managers on behalf of discretionary clients, the clients need not be named.
Positions may be aggregated in some cases. See FAQ document for further details.
(4 Figure to be expressed as a percentage of issued share capital. Disclosable
short position is defined in the Glossary of Definitions in the FSA Handbook.
Positions must be disclosed on a net basis of all holdings. All financial
instruments that represent a direct interest or direct economic interest in the
relevant issuer must be included within such holdings.