Interim Results

NEWS RELEASE

7 April 2004



                           EDINBURGH DRAGON TRUST PLC

            INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 29 FEBRUARY 2004

Edinburgh   Dragon  Trust's  objective  is  long-term  capital  growth   through
investment  in  the Far East (excluding Japan and Australasia).   The  Company's
benchmark is the MSCI All Countries Asia Free (ex Japan).


-  The company's net asset value rose by 9.8% compared with a rise  of
   6.1% in its benchmark index.
-  The company's share price rose 15.6% to 83.5p reflecting a narrowing
   of the discount to 10.9%.
-  Geographically, the company benefited from being overweight to China
   and Thailand which both performed well over the period.
-  The  company used its ability to gear in an environment  of  rising
   markets to good effect.


For further information please contact:-

Jeremy Whitley, Investment Manager
Edinburgh Fund Managers plc                       0131 313 1000



Chairman's Statement

Over  the six months to 29 February 2004, the company's net asset value rose  by
9.8%  to 93.75p per share compared with a rise of 6.1% for its benchmark  index,
the  MSCI  All Countries Asia Free (ex Japan) index. Over the same  period,  the
share  price  rose  15.6% to 83.5p reflecting a narrowing in the  discount  from
15.3% to 10.9%.

The  company's  outperformance over the index of 3.7% was due  to  a  number  of
factors.  First,  the  company benefited by 1.1% by  being  geared  into  rising
markets.  Secondly, asset allocation, particularly the overweight  positions  in
China  and  Thailand, added a further 2.0%. Finally, positive  stock  selection,
notably in China and Taiwan, contributed the remaining 0.6% of outperformance.


Revenue account
For the six months to 29 February 2004 the revenue deficit represented 0.50p per
share compared with a deficit of 0.64p for the six months to 28 February 2003.


Borrowings
The  Board  regularly reviews the borrowing facilities of the  company.   On  20
February 2004, the company repaid the $15m 7.56% loan from JP Morgan Chase Bank.
The prepayment penalty amounted to £1.1m, equivalent to 0.5p per share. For many
years  the  Board has approved a strategy whereby the manager has discretion  to
operate  the  portfolio with effective gearing up to 20% of  shareholder  funds.
The  Board  believes that in current market conditions the remaining $80m  7.26%
loan,  repayable in December 2008, provides the manager with an adequate gearing
facility. Should the manager wish to increase further the gearing facilities  of
the  Company  and the Board deems such a strategy appropriate, short  term  bank
borrowings will be arranged.


Management agreement
Our  manager,  Edinburgh  Fund  Managers plc, was  acquired  by  Aberdeen  Asset
Management PLC during the six months to 29 February 2004.

Following  a  review of the management agreement, the company  announced  on  12
November  2003  that it had agreed with Edinburgh Fund Managers  to  change  the
period  of  notice required in order to terminate the Management and Secretarial
Agreement  from  twelve months to three months. No compensation was  payable  in
respect of these amendments.


Continuation vote
The board is pleased to report that shareholders voted in favour of continuation
as  an  investment  trust at the Annual General Meeting in December  2003.   Our
major  shareholders have been very supportive of the company with almost 60%  of
shareholders  voting  at the meeting and 97.3% of those shareholders  voting  in
favour  of continuation.  The next continuation vote is scheduled to take  place
at the Annual General Meeting in December 2006.


Outlook
Asia's  economies and stock markets have enjoyed a strong start to 2004.  Recent
economic  and earnings data have been positive, resulting in forecasts  for  the
rest of the year and into 2005 being revised upwards.

In  response to their global competitors, many Asian companies have cut costs by
relocating  their operations to lower cost economies, notably China  and  to  an
extent   India.  Corporate  restructuring  and  the  divestment  of   peripheral
activities  have  enabled  managers to focus on their  core  operations  with  a
positive  effect on their ability to drive through productivity  gains.  Balance
sheet restructuring, in terms of paying down expensive debt, or rescheduling  it
at lower rates, or over longer periods, has lowered the cost of capital further.
Rather than expending the resultant cash flows on non-viable projects as in  the
past, companies have sought authority to buy back and cancel their own shares or
increase dividend payout ratios. The end result has been a marked pick-up in the
returns   companies   are  generating  on  their  shareholders'   funds.   These
improvements  are now being recognised by the international investing  community
and Asia has enjoyed a deserved re-rating of her markets.

Nonetheless, there remain a number of risks for Asia both in a political and  an
economic  context. With over one billion Asians eligible to vote at  the  polls,
politics will play an important part this year. Key elections have already taken
place  in  Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia and will soon be held in India,  Korea
and  Philippines. Historically, the democratic process across parts of Asia  has
often  been  volatile  and  marked  by some level  of  civil  unrest  and  hence
uncertainty.   Meanwhile, the ongoing disarmament discussions with  North  Korea
are  likely to make newspaper headlines intermittently throughout the  year  and
there also remains the threat of further terrorist strikes.

Last  year's  SARS  virus outbreak and this year's avian flu  served  to  remind
investors that Asia is, from time to time, affected by localised health concerns
which  threaten to break out into international epidemics. However, their impact
on  economic fundamentals and stock market valuations is usually fairly limited.
Indeed,  in most cases, markets react with some initial vigour which more  often
than not throws up a number of interesting longer term investment opportunities.
Of more concern to us would be a dramatic sell off in the value of the US dollar
or  a  sharp  contraction  in China's economic growth. Whilst  neither  scenario
currently seems likely, both risks are being closely monitored.

Given  the  strong market moves over the past twelve months, valuations  are  no
longer as attractive as they were, although they are still far from peak levels.
Whilst  some  share  prices have been pushed to high levels, there  remain  many
shares  which  have  been overlooked and which represent  fair  value  to  those
investors  with an investment process of sufficient discipline and  patience  to
unearth  them. To that end your company, through the manager, remains  committed
to  identifying  and,  at the right price, investing in  companies  with  proven
management  skills, operating with clearly defined strategies in business  areas
offering good long term growth opportunities.


Tony Cassidy
Chairman




STATEMENT OF TOTAL RETURN
for the six months to 29 February 2004 (unaudited)
                                     Revenue     Capital      Total
                                        £000        £000       £000
Net gains on investments                   -      18,920     18,920
Net currency gains                         -       1,131      1,131
Currency gain on repayment of              -       1,237      1,237
currency loan
Repayment penalty on currency loan         -     (1,105)    (1,105)
Investment income                      1,931           -      1,931
Interest receivable                      139           -        139
Other income                              96           -         96
Investment management fee            (1,028)           -    (1,028)
Administrative expenses                (327)           -      (327)
                                      ______      ______     ______
Net return before finance costs          811      20,183     20,994
and taxation
Interest payable and similar         (1,850)           -    (1,850)
charges
                                      ______      ______     ______
Return on ordinary activities        (1,039)      20,183     19,144
before taxation
Taxation                                (85)           -       (85)
                                      ______      ______     ______
Return attributable to equity        (1,124)      20,183     19,059
shareholders
                                      ______      ______     ______

Return per ordinary share            (0.50p)       8.91p      8.41p
                                      ______      ______     ______
Diluted return per ordinary share    (0.49p)       8.82p      8.33p
                                      ______      ______     ______




for the six months to 28 February 2003 (unaudited)
                                     Revenue     Capital      Total
                                        £000        £000       £000
Net losses on investments                  -    (15,740)   (15,740)

Net currency losses                        -       (329)      (329)
Investment income                      1,448           -      1,448
Interest receivable                      315           -        315
Other income                              18           -         18
Investment management fee              (730)           -      (730)
Administrative expenses                (254)           -      (254)
                                      ______      ______     ______
Net return before finance costs          797    (16,069)    (15,272)
and taxation
Interest payable and similar         (2,161)           -    (2,161)
charges
                                      ______      ______     ______
Return on ordinary activities        (1,364)    (16,069)   (17,433)
before taxation
Taxation                                (76)           -       (76)
                                      ______      ______     ______
Return attributable to equity        (1,440)    (16,069)   (17,509)
shareholders
                                      ______      ______     ______

Return per ordinary share            (0.64p)     (7.09p)    (7.73p)
                                      ______      ______     ______
Diluted return per ordinary share        n/a         n/a        n/a
                                      ______      ______     ______




STATEMENT OF TOTAL RETURN
for the year ended 31 August 2003 (audited)
                                  Revenue   Capital       Total
                                     £000      £000        £000
Net gains on investments                -    36,344      36,344
Net currency losses                     -     (288)       (288)
Investment income                   5,070         -       5,070
Interest receivable                   524         -         524
Other income                           37         -          37
Investment management fee         (1,585)         -     (1,585)
Administrative expenses             (561)         -       (561)
                                   ______    ______      ______
Net return before finance costs     3,485    36,056      39,541
and taxation
Interest payable and similar      (4,318)         -     (4,318)
charges
                                   ______    ______      ______
Return on ordinary activities       (833)    36,056      35,223
before taxation
Taxation                            (340)         -       (340)
                                   ______    ______      ______
Return attributable to equity
shareholders after taxation       (1,173)    36,056      34,883
                                   ______    ______      ______
Return per ordinary share         (0.52p)    15.91p      15.39p
                                   ______    ______      ______



BALANCE SHEET
                                   (Unaudited   (Audited)  (Unaudite
                                            )       At 31         d)
                                        At 29      August      At 28
                                     February        2003   February
                                         2004                   2003
                                         £000        £000       £000
Fixed assets
Investments                           235,254     217,669    154,456
                                       ______      ______     ______
Current assets
Debtors                                   693       1,731        753
US Treasury Bills                      13,984      33,449     39,905
Cash and short term deposits            8,103       2,078      8,213
                                       ______      ______     ______
                                       22,780      37,258     48,871

Creditors: amounts falling due          2,331       1,431      1,985
within one year
                                       ______      ______     ______
Net current assets                     20,449      35,827     46,886
                                       ______      ______     ______
Total assets less current             255,703     253,496    201,342
liabilities

Creditors: amounts falling due         42,969      59,906     60,144
after more than one year
                                       ______      ______     ______
                                      212,734     193,590    141,198
                                       ______      ______     ______
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital - equity       45,354      45,325     45,325
Other reserves                        167,380     148,265     95,873
                                       ______      ______     ______
Total equity shareholders' funds      212,734     193,590    141,198
                                       ______      ______     ______

Adjusted net asset value per           93.75p      85.35p     62.23p
share

Adjusted diluted net asset value       92.26p      84.22p     62.13p
per share



CASHFLOW STATEMENT
                                   (Unaudited  (Unaudit  (Audited)
                                            )       ed)    For the
                                      For the   For the    year to
                                   six months       six  31 August
                                           to    months       2003
                                           29        to
                                     February        28
                                         2004  February
                                                   2003
                                         £000      £000       £000

Revenue before finance costs and          811       797      3,485
taxation
Decrease/(increase) in accrued            194     (220)      (321)
income
(Increase)/decrease in other             (15)        15          6
debtors
Increase/(decrease)  in creditors          32     (102)         45
                                       ______    ______     ______
Net cash inflow from operating          1,022       490      3,215
activities
Net cash outflow from servicing       (2,158)   (2,163)    (4,281)
of finance
Total tax paid                          (114)      (39)      (280)
Net cash inflow from financial          3,418    10,825    (1,918)
investment
                                       ______    ______     ______
Net cash inflow/(outflow) before        2,168     9,113    (3,264)
financing
Net cash outflow from financing       (9,016)         -          -
Management of liquid resources         14,242  (21,202)   (15,034)
                                       ______    ______     ______
INCREASE/(DECREASE) IN CASH AND         7,394  (12,089)   (18,298)
CASH EQUIVALENTS
                                       ______    ______     ______


NOTES:
1. The  accounts  have  been  prepared  in  accordance  with  the  Statement  of
   Recommended  Practice 'Financial Statements of Investment  Trust  Companies'.
   The  same  accounting policies used for the year to 31 August 2003 have  been
   applied
2. There  will  be  no  interim  dividend  for  the  year  to  31  August  2004;
   shareholders  are  reminded that the objective of the company  is  long  term
   capital appreciation.
3. As   at  29  February  2004,  there  were  226,767,972  ordinary  shares  and
   10,508,903 warrants in issue.
4. The  financial  information  for the year ended  31  August  2003,  has  been
   extracted from the Annual report and accounts of the company which have  been
   filed  with  the  Registrar  of Companies.  The  auditor's  report  on  those
   accounts was unqualified.
5. The  statement  of  total return and balance sheet set out do  not  represent
   full accounts in accordance with Section 240 of the Companies Act 1985.
6. The interim report will be posted to shareholders in April.



Please  note that past performance is not necessarily a guide to the future  and
that  the value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise
and  may be affected by exchange rate movements.  Investors may not get back the
amount  they originally invested. Where investment is made in emerging  markets,
their potential volatility may increase the risk to the value of the investment.

For Edinburgh Dragon Trust plc
Edinburgh Fund Managers plc, Secretary

END