Preliminary Annual Results

Aberdeen Latin American Inv Tst PLC
28 August 2001


ABERDEEN LATIN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT OF UNAUDITED ANNUAL RESULTS
for the year ended 30 June 2001

The Company's undiluted net asset value per Ordinary share fell 15.1% in the
year to 77p as at 30 June 2001. This compares with a fall of 4.4% in the MSCI
EMF Latin American index in sterling terms over the same period. The
mid-market prices of the Company's Ordinary shares and Warrants as at 30 June
2001 were, respectively, 62p and 11.25p. The Company received exceptional
distributions from its investment in Companhia Siderurgica Nacional, a
Brazilian steel company. As a result, for the year ended 30 June 2001, and
subject to the approval of shareholders at the Annual General Meeting, the
Company has proposed a special dividend of 0.5p per Ordinary share to be
payable on 18 October 2001 to shareholders on the register on 7 September 2001
(2000 - nil).   

Contrary to what I anticipated in my last report, the year under review has
been disappointing as a whole for Latin American equity markets. The poor
performance relative to the benchmark is explained in detail in the Manager's
review, extracts of which accompany this preliminary announcement.

Latin American equity markets were negatively affected by a number of internal
and external developments.  It would have been difficult, if not impossible,
for the markets to make any gains over the last year given the strong headwind
emanating from the United States.  The restrictive monetary policy stance by
the US Federal Reserve, concerns about excessive valuations in technology
stocks, political uncertainty in the US, and the sudden and dramatic slowdown
in the US economy caused extreme volatility in the markets.  Other global
concerns also weighed on Latin America.  The Turkish devaluation, instability
in Israel, and weakness in the Asian technology sector pulled down valuations
in all emerging markets.  The strength of the US dollar for much of the year
hurt the competitiveness of Latin America.  Finally, oil prices have generally
declined over the last year, affecting the region's major oil producers.

Within the region, concerns about a default or a devaluation in Argentina
dominated the headlines and weighed heavily on the markets in the southern
cone region, particularly Brazil.  In an effort to stem the deterioration of
the economic situation, the government called on former Economy Minister
Domingo Cavallo, architect of the convertibility plan that cured Argentina of
hyperinflation a decade ago.  However, Cavallo's initial plans to rejuvenate
the country's anaemic economy proved no panacea as persistent budget deficits
eroded the confidence of international creditors and caused interest rates to
soar.  Cavallo's subsequent attempts to eliminate the fiscal deficit by
cutting social expenditures were met with harsh resistance in Congress, but a
compromise was eventually hammered out.  The situation remains perilous, as
ultimately the country needs to demonstrate that it can achieve sustainable
growth.  Until then, Argentina will be prone to bouts of nervousness and
recurrent speculation about its solvency.

Without a doubt the region's success story this year was Mexico, as the
country advanced to a new stage in its economic and political development
following the inauguration of President Vincente Fox.  The change in the
government ended the 70-year reign of the Institutional Revolutionary Party
(PRI).  Mexicans, who have long endured the legacy of corruption and
bureaucracy established by one-party rule, exhibited a palpable sense of
optimism regarding the future.  Most importantly, this was the first time in
recent memory that a change in administration was not accompanied by an
economic crisis, and much of the credit is due to former president Ernesto
Zedillo for managing the transition.  In contrast to the flagging investor
sentiment in Argentina and Brazil, Mexico has been a beacon for the region and
was rewarded with historically low interest rate spreads as investors became
more optimistic about the country's economic future and its convergence with
the United States.

The last year has been a difficult one for Latin American equities but they
should benefit from the more benign monetary policy stance in the US. 
Furthermore, with very wide interest rate spreads and inflation rapidly
falling to first-world levels, the long-term declining trend in interest rates
should continue.  Also, many of the external factors that weighed heavily on
Latin American equities over the last year - the sell-off in the US equity
markets, the strong US dollar, and weakness in global telecoms - seem to be
mostly behind us.

Bryan N Lenygon
28 August 2001
Chairman


Portfolio Review
The performance of the portfolio has been affected by weakness in global and
emerging markets.  Within Latin America, our asset allocation has suffered due
to an overweight position in Brazil.  Although we had minimised our exposure
to the turmoil in Argentina, we underestimated the negative effect this would
have on Brazil.  The portfolio was also hurt by our conservative stock
selection in Mexico, where we had cut our exposure to stocks that were
vulnerable to the US slowdown.  The recent optimism concerning convergence
with the US, which we feel is now overdone, carried stock prices much higher
than we expected.

Aberdeen Fund Managers, Inc, Manager

Dividend

The Company has today declared a special dividend on 0.5p per Ordinary share
payable on 18 October 2001 to shareholders on the register on 7 September 2001
(2000 - nil). 

Aberdeen Asset Management PLC, Secretaries

The unaudited results were:

Statement of Total Return (incorporating the revenue account*)

                                                       Year ended
                                                      30 June 2001
                                                       (unaudited)
                                            Revenue      Capital        Total
                                              £'000        £'000        £'000
Losses on investments                             -       (2,646)      (2,646)
Income                                          518            -          518
Investment management fee                       (50)        (149)        (199)
Other expenses                                 (216)           -         (216)
Exchange gains/(losses)                           6          (33)         (27)
                                            ________     ________     ________
Net return/(loss) before finance
costs and taxation                              258       (2,828)      (2,570)
Interest payable and similar charges            (34)           -          (34)
                                            ________     ________     ________
Return/(loss) on ordinary activities
before taxation                                 224       (2,828)      (2,604)
Taxation on ordinary activities                 (72)          39          (33)
                                            ________     ________     ________
Return/(loss) attributable to
equity shareholders                             152       (2,789)      (2,637)
Dividend in respect of equity shares           (100)           -         (100)
                                            ________     ________     ________
Transfer to/(from) reserves                      52       (2,789)      (2,737)
                                            ========     ========     ========

Return/(loss) per share (pence):               0.76       (13.95)      (13.19)
                                            ========     ========     ========

The audited results were:
                                                       Year ended
                                                      30 June 2000
                                                        (audited)
                                            Revenue      Capital        Total
                                              £'000        £'000        £'000
Gains on investments                              -        3,276        3,276
Income                                          324            -          324
Investment management fee                       (47)        (142)        (189)
Other expenses                                 (252)           -         (252)
Exchange gains/(losses)                           4          (16)         (12)
                                            ________     ________     ________
Net return before finance
costs and taxation                               29        3,118        3,147
Interest payable and similar charges             (4)           -           (4)
                                            ________     ________     ________
Return on ordinary activities
before taxation                                  25        3,118        3,143
Taxation on ordinary activities                 (48)          27          (21)
                                            ________     ________     ________
(Loss)/return attributable to
equity shareholders                             (23)       3,145        3,122
Dividend in respect of equity shares              -            -            -
                                            ________     ________     ________
Transfer (from)/to reserves                     (23)       3,145        3,122
                                            ========     ========     ========

(Loss)/return per share (pence):              (0.12)       15.73        15.61
                                            ========     ========     ========

* The revenue column of this statement is the revenue account of the Company.

The Statements of Total Return presented above are in accordance with the
Statement of Recommended Practice for Financial Statements of Investment Trust
Companies.
 

 Balance Sheet
                                                         As at         As at
                                                      30 June        30 June
                                                          2001          2000
                                                    (unaudited)     (audited)
                                                         £'000         £'000
Fixed assets
Investments                                             15,502        17,419
                                                       ________      ________
Current assets
Debtors                                                    158           211
Cash at bank and in hand                                     -           971
                                                       ________      ________
                                                           158         1,182
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year            (265)         (469)
                                                       ________      ________
Net current (liabilities)/assets                          (107)          713
                                                       ________      ________
Net assets                                              15,395        18,132
                                                       ========      ========
Capital and reserves
Called-up share capital                                  5,000         5,000
Share premium account                                   11,642        11,642
Warrant reserve                                          2,353         2,353
Other reserves:
Capital reserve - realised                              (1,402)       (3,177)
Capital reserve - unrealised                            (2,502)        2,062
Revenue reserve                                            304           252
                                                       ________      ________
Total equity shareholders' funds                        15,395        18,132
                                                       ========      ========

Net asset value per share (pence):                       76.97         90.66
                                                       ========      ========

Cash Flow Statement

                                                 Year ended        Year ended
                                               30 June 2001      30 June 2000
                                                 (unaudited)         (audited)
                                             £'000    £'000    £'000    £'000
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from
operating activities                                     70               (60)
Servicing of finance
Bank interest paid                             (34)               (4)
                                           ________          ________
Net cash outflow from servicing of finance              (34)               (4)

Taxation
Net tax recovered/(paid)                                 50               (29)

Financial investment
Purchase of investments                    (16,037)          (14,644)
Sale of investments                         14,928            15,570
                                           ________          ________
Net cash (outflow)/inflow 
from financial investment                            (1,109)              926
                                                    ________          ________
(Decrease)/increase in cash                          (1,023)              833
                                                    ========          ========
Reconciliation of net cash flow
to movements in net (debt)/funds
(Decrease)/increase in cash as above                 (1,023)              833
Exchange movements                                      (33)              (16)
                                                    ________          ________
Movement in net (debt)/funds in the year             (1,056)              817
Opening net funds                                       971               154
                                                    ________          ________
Closing net (debt)/funds                                (85)              971
                                                    ========          ========

Notes:-

1 The breakdown of income for the year to 30 June 2001 and 30 June 2000
was as follows:
                               2001          2000
                              £'000         £'000
Income from investments
Overseas dividends              480           286
Other income
Deposit interest                 38            38
                              ______        ______
Total income                    518           324
                              ======        ======
 
2  The basic revenue return per Ordinary share is based on the net return on
ordinary activities after taxation of £152,000 (2000 - net loss of £23,000),
and on 20,000,000 (2000 - 20,000,000) Ordinary shares, being the number of
Ordinary shares in issue throughout the year.

3  The basic capital return per Ordinary share is based on net capital losses
for the year of £2,789,000 (2000 - gains of £3,145,000), and on 20,000,000
(2000 - 20,000,000) Ordinary shares, being the number of Ordinary shares in
issue throughout the year.

4  The basic net asset value per Ordinary share is based on net assets and on
20,000,000 (2000 - 20,000,000) Ordinary shares, being the number of Ordinary
shares in issue at the year end.

5  The Company has proposed a special dividend of 0.5p per Ordinary share
which subject to the approval of shareholders at the Annual General Meeting
will be payable on 18 October 2001 to Ordinary shareholders on the register on
7 September 2001 (2000 - nil).

6  The financial information set out above does not constitute the Company's
statutory accounts for the years ended 30 June 2001 or 30 June 2000. The
financial information for 2000 is derived from the statutory accounts for 2000
which have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies.  The auditors have
reported on the 2000 accounts; their report was unqualified and did not
contain a statement under section 237(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985. 
The statutory accounts for 2001 will be finalised on the basis of the
financial information presented by the Directors in this preliminary
announcement and will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies following the
Company's Annual General Meeting which will be held on Wednesday 17 October
2001 at One Bow Churchyard, Cheapside, London EC4M 9HH.

7  Copies of the Annual Report will be posted to shareholders in late
September and further copies may be obtained from the registered office, One
Bow Churchyard, Cheapside, London EC4M 9HH.  

Aberdeen Asset Management PLC, Secretaries