Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK GREATER EUROPE INVESTMENT TRUST plc

All information is at 31 DECEMBER 2016 and unaudited.

Performance at month end with net income reinvested

One

Three

One

Three

Launch

Month

Months

Year

Years

(20 Sep 04)

Net asset value* (undiluted)

6.1%

2.2%

14.6%

24.9%

271.5%

Net asset value* (diluted)

6.1%

2.2%

15.7%

26.4%

271.9%

Share price

6.7%

2.3%

10.1%

23.2%

255.2%

FTSE World Europe ex UK

7.0%

4.8%

19.7%

26.3%

193.1%

Sources: BlackRock and Datastream

At month end

Net asset value (capital only):

293.77p

Net asset value (including income):

294.67p

Net asset value (capital only)*:

293.77p

Net asset value (including income)*:

294.67p

Share price:

279.50p

Discount to NAV (including income):

5.1%

Discount to NAV (including income)*:

5.1%

Net cash:

0.5%

Net yield**:

1.9%

Total assets (including income):

£281.2m

Ordinary shares in issue***:

95,420,953

Ongoing charges****:

1.07%

* Diluted for treasury shares. ** Based on a final dividend of 3.65p and an interim dividend of 1.65p per share for the year ended 31 August 2016. *** Excluding 14,907,985 shares held in treasury. **** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding performance fees and interest costs, after relief for taxation for the year ended 31 August 2016.

Sector Analysis

Total Assets

Country Analysis

Total Assets

(%)

(%)

Industrials

26.7

France

25.2

Financials

22.1

Netherlands

12.2

Consumer Goods

18.2

Denmark

10.5

Technology

9.7

Switzerland

9.6

Consumer Services

8.2

Belgium

7.8

Health Care

6.2

Germany

6.9

Basic Materials

5.7

Ireland

5.9

Telecommunications

2.7

Sweden

5.0

Net current assets

0.5

Finland

3.9

-----

Russia

3.3

100.0

Luxembourg

2.5

=====

Turkey

1.9

Ukraine

1.7

Italy

1.6

Poland

1.5

Net current assets

0.5

-----

100.0

=====

Ten Largest Equity Investments

% of

Company

Country

Total Assets

AXA

France

4.2

RELX

Netherlands

3.2

Anheuser-Busch Inbev

Belgium

3.2

Pandora

Denmark

3.1

Bayer

Germany

3.1

ASML

Netherlands

3.0

KBC Groep

Belgium

2.7

Vinci

France

2.7

Schneider Electric

France

2.7

KPN

Netherlands

2.7

Commenting on the markets, Vincent Devlin, representing the Investment Manager noted:

During the month, the Company’s NAV rose by 6.1% and the share price increased by 6.7%. For reference, the FTSE World Europe ex UK Index was up 7.0% during the period.

At the beginning of the month, Matteo Renzi lost his constitutional referendum, leading to his resignation and Paolo Gentiloni becoming the new prime minister of Italy. After having postponed a rate hike in the third quarter, the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) raised interest rates in December. European macro releases were overall positive, with European and US consumer confidence rising and Euro area unemployment declining.

On a sector view, strong performers included autos, as well as banks, with the European market benefiting from ongoing hopes of US fiscal spending and rising global macroeconomic surprise. Following OPEC’s announcement to cut production in November, oil and energy stocks performed strongly again in December as non-OPEC oil producers also agreed to cut supply.

Due to the strong performance of the oil & gas sector, the lower weighting towards the sector detracted from performance. The lower allocation to the health care sector, however, was beneficial for performance, as stocks sensitive to the increase in bond yields continued to underperform.

Stock selection was marginally negative for performance over the month with a number of industrial names detracting from returns. Thales, Assa Aboly, DSV and ISS, all fell within the top detractors after performing exceptionally strongly in November following the election of President Trump.

Nevertheless, the pro-inflation and rising rate narrative continued to support banks. Therefore, the lower weighting in the Company towards this sector, and in particular not holding Spanish bank Santander, detracted from performance. A holding in Sberbank Russia, however, was positive for returns.

The top contributing stock over the period was steel pipe provider Tenaris, benefiting from the strength of the energy market. Danish jewelry company Pandora was also beneficial for returns, recovering from a November lull as investor confidence in the stock was bolstered by evidence of strong google search trends for the brand.

At the end of the period, the Company had higher weightings when compared with the reference index to industrials, technology and consumer services. The Company had a lower weighting towards health care, oil & gas, utilities, basic materials, financials, telecoms and consumer goods.

Outlook

The outlook for the global economy on balance has improved, with leading indicators suggesting more positive signals across regions. The unexpected election victory of Donald Trump – leading to expectations for large tax cuts, increased infrastructure spending and reduced regulation – has likely amplified reflationary expectations and could help support the economic cycle further. Some parts of emerging market economies are also seeing a solid recovery take root, with higher factory output and signs that companies are confident enough to pass on higher prices to customers.  It is also important to be aware that central banks are heading towards divergent paths, with the likelihood of the monetary policy in Europe remaining accommodative for the time being. In contrast, the Fed is likely to continue on the tightening path initiated last December.

These conditions should be attractive for European equities and, after a difficult year in 2016, we think that conditions for Europe are much brighter for 2017. On the earnings front, the European market is seeing a more supportive earnings revision trend, and margins are now beginning to improve on the back of better macro backdrop, cost discipline, improvement in pricing power and weaker currencies. Finally, with the Fed rate cycle likely to be on a firmer upward trend than previously expected, we have had a major adjustment in the fixed income market, which could persist for some time, and this has significant implications regarding equities style leadership.

12 January 2017

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.brgeplc.co.uk on the internet, "BLRKINDEX" on Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICV terminal).  Neither the contents of the Manager’s website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Manager’s website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.