RNS Number:4938H
BHP Billiton PLC
14 February 2003

Issued by: BHP Billiton Plc

To: Company Announcements Office                 cc: New York Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange                            Swiss Stock Exchange
Old Broad Street                                     New Zealand Stock Exchange
London EC2N 1HP                                      Johannesburg Stock Exchange
United Kingdom                                       Paris Bourse (Euronext)
                                                     Deutsche Bank
Company Announcements Office                         
The Australian Stock Exchange
4th Floor, 20 Bridge Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia



Date:             13 February 2003

For Release:      Immediately

Contact:          Ines Watson + 44 (0)20 7802 4176



                   Notification of Major Interests in Shares

The following notification was received today by BHP Billiton Plc in a letter
from Putnam Investment Management, LLC and The Putnam Advisory Company, LLC
dated 7 February 2003 relating to major interests in shares of BHP Billiton Plc
as at 7 February 2003:

"Notification of the Holdings under Part VI of the Companies Act 1985, as
amended (the "Companies Act") on the Disclosure of Interest in Shares

Putnam Investment Management, LLC and The Putnam Advisory Company, LLC (together
"Putnam") are hereby notifying you of certain holdings of its clients pursuant
to the above legislation. Each Putnam entity is an investment advisor registered
in the United States pursuant to the Investment Advisors Act of 1940.

As of February 7, 2003 clients of Putnam hold beneficial interests in
103,911,218 BHP Billiton Plc shares representing 4.210% of the shares
outstanding. The shares are held by Putnam's clients for investment purposes
only."

BHP Billiton Limited ABN 49 004 028 077                     BHP Billiton Plc Registration number 3196209
Registered in Australia                                     Registered in England and Wales
Registered Office: 600 Bourke Street Melbourne Victoria     Registered Office: 1-3 Strand London WC2N 5HA United Kingdom
3000                                                        Telephone +44 20 7747 3800 Facsimile +44 20 7747 3900
Telephone +61 3 9609 3333 Facsimile +61 3 9609 3015

              The BHP Billiton Group is headquartered in Australia




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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