Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK LATIN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
All information is at 29 February 2016 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
	One		Three		One	Three				Five	^^Since
	month		months		year	years				years	31.03.06
	%		%		%	%				%	%
Sterling:
Net asset value^	4.8		1.5		-22.4	-42.8				-47.0	15.5
Share price	9.5		-3.5		-22.9	-42.8				-49.3	6.7
MSCI EM Latin America	5.6		2.5		-22.3	-43.5				-44.8	22.5
US Dollars:
Net asset value^	3.0		-6.0		-30.0	-47.4				-54.5	-7.0
Share price	7.6		-10.7		-30.4	-47.4				-56.5	-14.1
MSCI EM Latin America	3.8		-5.2		-29.9	-48.1				-52.7	-1.6
^cum income ^^Date which BlackRock took over the investment management of the Company. Sources: BlackRock, Standard & Poor’s Micropal
At month end
Net asset value – capital only:							317.59p
Net asset value – cum income:							325.59p
Share price:							282.00p
Total Assets#:							£128.2m
Discount (share price to cum income NAV):							13.4%
Average discount* over the month – cum income:							13.4%
Net cash at month end**:							3.5%
Gearing range (as a % of net assets):							0-25%
Net yield##:							7.0%
Ordinary shares in issue***:							39,369,620
Ongoing charges****:							1.1%
#Total assets include current year revenue. ## Calculated using total dividends declared in the last 12 months as at the date of this announcement as a percentage of month end share price. *The discount is calculated using the cum income NAV (expressed in sterling terms). **Net cash/net gearing is calculated using debt at par, less cash and cash equivalents and fixed interest investments as a percentage of net assets. ***Excluding 2,071,662 shares held in treasury. **** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding performance fees and interest costs for the year ended 31 December 2015.
Geographic Exposure
		% of Total Assets		% of Equity Portfolio *					MSCI EM Latin American Index
Mexico		42.6		44.1					36.9
Brazil		41.8		43.3					45.8
Peru		6.0		6.2					3.2
Chile		3.0		3.1					10.5
Argentina		1.7		1.8					0.0
Colombia		1.4		1.5					3.6
Net current assets (inc.Fixed interest)		3.5		0.0					0.0
		-----		-----					-----
Total		100.0		100.0					100.0
		-----		-----					-----

Sector	% of Equity Portfolio*	% of Benchmark
Materials	13.6	12.4
Consumer Discretionary	5.7	7.1
Consumer Staples	25.0	23.4
Financials	32.1	28.8
Health Care	0.5	0.3
Industrials	7.2	7.2
Information Technology	3.2	2.1
Energy	2.9	5.6
Telecommunication Services	6.7	6.9
Utilities	3.1	6.2
	-----	-----
Total	100.0	100.0
	-----	-----

   *excluding net current assets & fixed interest

Ten Largest Equity Investments (in percentage order)
Company	Country of Risk	% of Equity Portfolio		% of Benchmark
Femsa	Mexico	6.9		4.3
Grupo Financiero Banorte	Mexico	5.4		3.1
AmBev	Brazil	5.4		5.2
Itau Unibanco	Brazil	5.1		4.8
Cemex	Mexico	4.4		1.9
America Movil	Mexico	4.3		5.4
Walmart de Mexico	Mexico	4.2		3.1
Banco Bradesco	Brazil	4.2		4.6
Credicorp	Peru	3.6		2.0
BB Seguridade Participacoes	Brazil	3.6		1.1
Commenting on the markets, Will Landers, representing the Investment Manager noted;   Performance For the month of February 2016, the Company’s NAV rose by 4.8% and the share price rose by 9.5%, while the Company’s benchmark, the MSCI EM Latin America Free Index, rose by 5.6% (all in sterling terms). Weighing on returns was a lack of exposure to Vale. The materials sector was one of the strongest performing sectors during the month as iron ore rose by 14%.              Offsetting this, our holdings in Mexico contributed positively.  The largest contributor to performance was Mexican cement stock Cemex, which benefited from strength in the Mexican peso as well as the strong move in materials during the month. Our exposure to Peru also contributed positively for the month as that market benefited from the move in commodities. Transactions/Gearing During the month we rotated some copper exposure from Southern Copper to Grupo Mexico as we expect the latter to benefit from a stronger currency in Mexico, the sale of GAP shares and the discount to ‘sum of the parts’ to narrow from current high historical levels.  We also rotated some financial exposure in Mexico from Gentera to Grupo Financiero Banorte following the surprise rate hike in Mexico. We had taken profits in Gentera earlier in the month and further reduced the holding as it approached our price target.  In our opinion, Grupo Financiero Banorte stands to benefit more from the rate hike in Mexico. Net cash was approximately 3.5% at the end of February. Positioning We entered March continuing to prefer Mexico over Brazil among the larger markets and Peru over Chile and Colombia within the Andean region. Mexico’s domestic economy continues with its longstanding gradual recovery and the moves by Banco de Mexico to increase rates and the Finance Ministry to pre-emptively reduce expenses showed once again that this Mexican administration is committed to prudent fiscal and monetary policies.  Brazil, on the other hand, continued to disappoint on the political, fiscal and monetary fronts – with the caveat being that the latest developments in the Petrobras investigation once again increased the odds of political change in Brazil.  Peru is poised to enjoy an improvement in investment and business sentiment with the upcoming presidential election in the second quarter. 21 March 2016 ENDS Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/brla 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.