("ST HELEN'S" OR "THE COMPANY")
                                    (PLUS)

                                TRADING UPDATE

St Helen's, the leading PLUS (formerly Ofex) adviser, is pleased to provide the market with a trading update.

Since  the end of July St Helen's has brought seven new companies to the market and raised  nearly  GBP4M  via fundraisings. St Helen's continues to cement its position as the leading PLUS  adviser  -  this  month alone it has successfully brought three companies to PLUS:

   * Quercus  Publishing  Plc  -  the  first company to  be  admitted  to  PLUS following its name change, successfully raised GBP2.8M via a placing - the largest amount raised by an IPO fundraising since 2000;
  
   * Aviation company Air Touring Group Plc successfully raised more than GBP1M via an oversubscribed offer for subscription at 50p; and

   * USA-based  Great  Western  Mining  Corporation  Plc  joined  PLUS  via  an Introduction.
  
St.  Helen's  is currently involved in a number  of  fundraising  transactions. These are in a  number of sectors including coal production, a Chinese internet platform and financial software.

The  recent  appointment   of  Howard  Flight  as  Non-Executive  Director  has strengthened St Helen's experienced  board.  Howard  has extensive knowledge of financial markets and is well known in the City.

Mark Warde-Norbury, St Helen's Chairman, said: "THE FACT THAT WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO RAISE SUCH SIGNIFICANT SUMS OF MONEY SHOWS THAT PLUS  HAS  A  STRONG ROLE TO PLAY AS A PLATFORM FOR GROWING COMPANIES. ST HELEN'S HAS BROUGHT NINE COMPANIES TO THE MARKET THIS YEAR AND NOW ADVISES 29 PLUS-QUOTED COMPANIES -  16%  OF THE TOTAL  MARKET. WE ARE PROUD TO BE THE LEADING PLUS ADVISER AND LOOK FORWARD  TO TAKING ADVANTAGE OF FURTHER OPPORTUNITIES THAT MAY ARISE."

    The Directors of the Issuer accept responsibility for this announcement

                               
                                     ---ENDS---

ENQUIRIES:

ST HELEN'S CAPITAL PLC                                                 020 7628 5582
Mark Warde-Norbury, Chairman
Barry Hocken, Chief Executive                  
www.sthelenscapital.com

BISHOPSGATE COMMUNICATIONS LTD.                            020 7430 1600
Maxine Barnes                                   
Nick Rome                                               
www.bishopsgatecommunications.com


NOTES TO EDITORS

St Helen's  Capital  Plc is a FSA regulated, corporate advisory firm. It is the leading  PLUS adviser and  specialises  in  advising  Small  and  Medium  sized businesses (SMEs) on pre-IPO fund raisings and PLUS Introductions, which may be accompanied  by  capital  raising through a Private Placing and/or an Offer for Subscription of new shares.