Monthly update June 2004

British Empire Sec & Gen Tst PLC
07 June 2004

BRITISH EMPIRE SECURITIES AND GENERAL TRUST PLC



Performance Commentary



Over the month NAV was down 4.1%1. This compares to a decrease in the benchmark
of 1.1%2 and a decrease of 2.1%1 and 1.3%1for the MSCI World (£) and FTSE All
Share indices respectively.



Financial year to date net asset value rose 13.3%1 compared to a rise of 11.1%2
for the Datastream index, 5.4%1 for the MSCI World (£) and 10.9%1 for the FTSE
All Share.



Over three years NAV is up 18.9%1 while the FTSE All Share is down 13.9%1.



Manager's Comment



The markets headed lower in May on a potent mixture of concerns over interest
rates, rising oil prices and the Chinese economy.  As bottom-up stockpickers our
most important consideration is the value on offer in stocks.  On this basis, we
had become more cautious of the markets and raised our level of liquidity.  In
spite of this we suffered from falling NAVs and widening discounts, especially
in our Japanese Trust holdings.



Statistics



                          Value          % 1 mo      % 1 yr     % 3 yr    % 5 yr

Price (£)1                248.0            -3.9        36.4       27.5     114.0

Net Asset Value1          245.0            -4.1        30.1       15.8      74.2

Net Asset Value Total Return1    
                                            3.9        30.9       18.9      81.3
Benchmark2 (£)                             -1.1        23.1      -14.9      -6.6



Annual Returns (%)         2003            2002        2001       2000      1999

Price1                     41.6           -12.2         0.8       26.0      52.6

MSCI World1                20.6           -27.4       -14.1       -5.8      28.6





1 Source: Fundamental Data

2 Datastream Global Growth Investment Trust Index (TR) Source: Thomson Financial

3 Benchmark index changed to Datastream Global Growth Investment Trust Index
(TR)





Top 10 Equity Holdings                   %



Eurazeo                               5.96

Hansa Trust plc                       5.63

Henderson Electric & General          4.28

Prospect Japan Fund Ltd               3.98

Law Debenture Corp                    3.61

Jardine Strategic Holdings Ltd        3.60

Wendel Investissement                 3.14

Encana Corp                           2.51

Groupe Bruxelles Lambert SA           2.37

European Asset Value Fund             2.13





Capital Structure



Ordinary Shares                                    160,080,089

10 3/8% Debenture stock 2011                       £11,883,322

8 1/8% Debenture stock 2023                        £15,000,000

Equities index unsecured loan stock 2013             3,133,197





Gross Assets / Gearing as at 31 March 2004



Gross Assets                                             £439.3mil

Debt                                                     £ 33.6mil

Actual Gearing (Debt less cash divided by net asset value)   -6.9%





Fund Codes



Bloomberg                    Reuters Ticker / ISIN

BTEM                          GB0001335081





Geographical Breakdown



Continental Europe                 29.7%

Japan                              13.9%

Canada / US                         3.5%

Asia Pacific                       12.1%

UK                                 21.5%

Liquidity                          14.0%

EMEA                                5.3%



All figures as at 31 May 2004.  All sources Asset Value Investor unless
otherwise stated. British Empire Securities Trust is managed by Asset Value
Investors Ltd. The price of shares and the income from them may go down as well
as up; they can be affected by exchange rate movements between currencies and it
is possible that investors may not get back the full amount invested on disposal
of the shares.  Past performance is no guarantee of future performance.
Investments in emerging markets carries a greater degree of risk, in particular
the volatility of the markets and the local custody and registration
arrangements, which may be less developed than in more mature markets.  There is
no guarantee that the market price of shares in Investment Trusts will fully
reflect their underlying Net Asset Value (NAV). This Investment Trust should be
considered only as part of a balanced portfolio, of which it should not form a
disproportionate part. Under no circumstances should this information be
considered as an offer, or solicitation, to deal in investments. Issued by Asset
Value Investors Ltd., which is authorised and regulated by the Financial
Services Authority.




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