INTRODUCTION
These summary financial statements are a summary of information contained in the Reed Elsevier Annual Reports & Financial Statements 2002. They do not contain sufficient information to allow as full an understanding of the results and state of affairs of the Reed Elsevier businesses and the parent companies as would be provided by the full Annual Reports. Shareholders who wish to receive, free of charge, a copy of the Annual Reports and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2002, or in the future, should write to the registered offices of either Reed Elsevier PLC at 25 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0EX, UK, or Reed Elsevier NV at Sara Burgerhartstraat 25, 1055 KV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.