GPT GROUP — Regulatory Filings 2004

Jul 6, 2004

P&O Australia Ltd A.B.N. 25 000 282 977 160 Sussex Street Sydney NSW 2000 GPO Box 546 Sydney NSW 2001

Telephone +61 2 9364 8400 Facsimile +61 2 9364 8406

7 July 2004

The Manager Companies The Australian Stock Exchange Limited 4th Floor 20 Bridge Street SYDNEY NSW 2000

Total pages 3

Dear Sirs.

P&O SELLS AUSTRALIAN RESORTS BUSINESS

An announcement on the above subject is attached.

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Yours faithfully, for and on behalf of THE PENINSULAR AND ORIENTAL STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY

R A Birdsall Secretary P&O Australia Ltd

7 July 2004

P&O SELLS AUSTRALIAN RESORTS BUSINESS

P&O announces that it has sold its Australian resorts business for approximately A\$210 million (£81 million). The business consists of six island resorts, two eco-lodges and a new 'outback experience' lodge. The buyer is Australian listed General Property Trust, together with its associated company Voyages Hotel & Resorts Pty Limited.

Contracts for the transaction have been signed and completion is expected to take place around the end of July. The sale is part of P&O's strategy to focus its capital on its high growth ports business and it contributes towards the company's target of £250 million net property sales in 2004.

Commenting on the sale, Robert Woods, Chief Executive of P&O, said "We are pleased to have reached agreement with GPT and Voyages. This is a further significant step in our property sales programme and follows our 1 July announcement of sales of £80 million in the US and Germany. We are firmly on track to meet our £250 million net sales target for 2004."

Further Information:

Peter Smith, Director, Communications and Strategy Tel: $+44$ (0)20 7930 4343

Andrew Lincoln, Manager, Investor Relations and Strategy Tel: $+44$ (0)20 7321 4490

The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, 79 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5EJ, United Kingdom Telephone +44 (0)20 7930 4343 Facsimile +44 (0)20 7925 0384 E-mail: communications@pogroup.com Internet http://www.pogroup.com

Head Office 79 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5EJ, England. Incorporated by Royal Charter with limited liability. Company number Z73

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Notes to editors:

• 1. The business being sold, P&O Australian Resorts, consists of the island resorts of Bedarra, Brampton, Dunk, Heron, Lizard and Wilson off the Queensland coast, the eco-lodges at Cradle Mountain in Tasmania and Silky Oaks in Queensland, and the new 'outback experience' lodge at Wrotham Park in Queensland. The resorts are some of the leading nature-based holiday destinations in the world. In 2003, some 100,000 guests visited the resorts. The business employs 650 staff. For more information visit www.poresorts.com.au
• 1. In the year ended 31 December 2003, P&O Australian Resorts contributed an operating profit of approximately A\$12 million (£5 million). The net assets of the business are approximately A\$140 million (£54 million). The gain on sale, after transaction costs, will be reported in P&O's group accounts within separately disclosable items for the second half of the current financial year. P&O will use the proceeds from the sale to reduce net debt.
• 1. On 1 July, P&O announced that it had sold part of its Boston Wharf portfolio in the US for approximately £51 million, and that the HTC partnership in Germany, in which P&O has a $47.5\%$ interest, had sold a major phase of its office development in Hamburg, reducing P&O's joint venture and associate net debt by approximately £30 million.

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