Director Shareholding

Benchmark Group PLC 25 September 2002 BENCHMARK GROUP PLC GRANT OF SHARE OPTIONS TO DIRECTORS AND TRANSFER OF SHARES TO DIRECTORS UNDER THE BENCHMARK CO-INVESTMENT PLAN Benchmark Group PLC (the 'Company') hereby gives notice of share options granted on 25 September 2002 to Mr N J Kempner and Mr K C Wong, Directors of the Company, under the Benchmark Group PLC 2001 Unapproved Executive Share Option Plan (the 'Option Plan') to acquire 301,807 and 219,923 ordinary shares of 62.5 pence each in the Company respectively at a price of 210.2 pence per share. The options are exercisable between 25 September 2005 and 25 September 2012. Additionally, following the third anniversary of awards made on 21 September 1999 under the Benchmark Co-Investment Plan (the 'Co-Investment Plan'), The Benchmark Employee Trust Company Limited (the 'Trust') has transferred 2,054 and 1,028 Matching shares to Mr N J Kempner and Mr K C Wong respectively. Under the rules of the Co-Investment Plan, participants may invest a proportion of their annual bonus to acquire ordinary shares of the Company ('Initial Shares') through the Trust. Subject to satisfying certain conditions, participants receive additional free 'Matching' shares which are acquired by the Trust at the same time as the Initial Shares. Following the transactions referred to above, Mr Kempner and Mr Wong hold options and awards under the Option Plan and the Company's other employee share schemes in respect of 1,140,692 and 874,311 ordinary shares respectively and are beneficially interested in 175,729 and 39,368 ordinary shares in the Company respectively (representing 0.180% and 0.040% respectively of the Company's issued share capital). DEALINGS BY DIRECTORS 1) NAME OF COMPANY BENCHMARK GROUP PLC 2) NAME OF DIRECTOR N.J. KEMPNER 3) Please state whether notification indicates that it is in respect of holding of the shareholder named in 2 above or in respect of a non-beneficial interest or in the case of an individual holder if it is a holding of that person's spouse or children under the age of 18 or in respect of an non-beneficial interest YES 4) Name of the registered holder(s) and, if more than one holder, the number of shares held by each of them. (If notified) 5) Please state whether notification relates to a person(s) connected with the Director named in 2 above and identify the connected person(s) 6) Please state the nature of the transaction. For PEP transactions please indicate whether general/single co PEP and if discretionary/non discretionary 7) Number of shares/amount of stock acquired 2,054 8) (0.002%) of issued Class 9) Number of shares/amount of stock disposed 10) ( N/A %) of issued Class 11) Class of security ORDINARY 62.5p 12) Price per share 213p 13) Date of transaction 25/9/02 14) Date company informed 25/9/02 15) Total holding following this notification 175,729 16) Total percentage holding of issued class following this notification 0.180 IF A DIRECTOR HAS BEEN GRANTED OPTIONS BY THE COMPANY PLEASE COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING BOXES 17) Date of grant 25/9/02 18) Period during which or date on which exercisable 25 SEPTEMBER 2005 TO 25 SEPTEMBER 2012 19) Total amount paid (if any) for grant of the option NIL 20) Description of shares or debentures involved: class, number. ORDINARY 62.5p 301,807 21) Exercise price (if fixed at time of grant) or indication that price is to be fixed at time of exercise 210.2p 22) Total number of shares or debentures over which options held following this notification 1,140,692 + 5,253 SAYE OPTIONS 23) Any additional information 24) Name of contact and telephone number for queries ANDREW NORMAN 020 7659 0500 25) Name and signature of authorised company official responsible for making this notification Date of Notification 25/9/2002 DEALINGS BY DIRECTORS 1) NAME OF COMPANY BENCHMARK GROUP PLC 2) NAME OF DIRECTOR K.C. WONG 3) Please state whether notification indicates that it is in respect of holding of the shareholder named in 2 above or in respect of a non-beneficial interest or in the case of an individual holder if it is a holding of that person's spouse or children under the age of 18 or in respect of an non-beneficial interest YES 4) Name of the registered holder(s) and, if more than one holder, the number of shares held by each of them. (If notified) 5) Please state whether notification relates to a person(s) connected with the Director named in 2 above and identify the connected person(s) 6) Please state the nature of the transaction. For PEP transactions please indicate whether general/single co PEP and if discretionary/non discretionary 7) Number of shares/amount of stock acquired 1,028 8) (0.001%) of issued Class 9) Number of shares/amount of stock disposed 10) ( N/A %) of issued Class 11) Class of security ORDINARY 62.5p 12) Price per share 213p 13) Date of transaction 25/9/02 14) Date company informed 25/9/02 15) Total holding following this notification 39,368 16) Total percentage holding of issued class following this notification 0.140 IF A DIRECTOR HAS BEEN GRANTED OPTIONS BY THE COMPANY PLEASE COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING BOXES 17) Date of grant 25/9/02 18) Period during which or date on which exercisable 25 SEPTEMBER 2005 TO 25 SEPTEMBER 2012 19) Total amount paid (if any) for grant of the option NIL 20) Description of shares or debentures involved: class, number. ORDINARY 62.5p 219,923 21) Exercise price (if fixed at time of grant) or indication that price is to be fixed at time of exercise 210.2p 22) Total number of shares or debentures over which options held following this notification 874,311 + 5,253 SAYE OPTIONS 23) Any additional information 24) Name of contact and telephone number for queries ANDREW NORMAN 020 7659 0500 25) Name and signature of authorised company official responsible for making this notification Date of Notification 25/9/2002 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
UK 100