Final Results

Graphite Enterprise Trust PLC
18 March 2004

                                     -1-


For immediate release                                         18 March 2004




                         GRAPHITE ENTERPRISE TRUST PLC
                   UNAUDITED PRELIMINARY STATEMENT OF RESULTS
                        FOR THE YEAR TO 31 DECEMBER 2003


SUMMARY

•        Net assets per share rose by 9.9%

•        Closing shareholders' funds were £258.7 million

•        The Board has proposed a dividend of 4.3p


FINANCIAL RESULTS

                                         2003               2002                 % Change



Net assets per share                   284.9p             259.2p                    +9.9%
attributable to ordinary
shareholders

Share price                            222.3p             206.5p                    +7.6%

FTSE All-Share Index                 2,207.38           1,893.73                   +16.6%

Dividend per share                       4.3p               4.3p                        -


                                      -2-


John Sclater, Chairman, made the following statement on the results:



Performance



In 2003 the net asset value per share of Graphite Enterprise Trust rose by 9.9%
and its share price by 7.6%.  These increases compare with a 16.6% increase in
the FTSE All-Share Index.  Over the last two years, however, the FTSE All-Share
Index has fallen by 12.5%.  This compares with an increase of 1.6% and a fall of
2.7% in the Enterprise Trust's net asset value per share and share price
respectively.



The discount of the share price to the underlying net asset value rose during
2003 from 20.3% to 22.0%, having risen from 18.5% in the previous year. At the
time of writing the share price has risen by 6.9% since the year end compared
with a fall in the FTSE All-Share Index of 0.1%.  Assuming an unchanged net
asset value this has the effect of reducing the discount to 16.9%.



As its assets are held primarily in unquoted investments the Enterprise Trust is
unlikely to perform in line with quoted markets over short periods and its net
asset value is likely to be less volatile.  It is therefore unsurprising that
having outperformed in 2002 it underperformed in 2003.



The objective of the Enterprise Trust is to provide shareholders with long term
capital growth.  Over the unsettled period of the last five years its net asset
value per share has risen by 6.1% and its share price has fallen by 15.3%
compared with a fall of 17.4% in the FTSE All-Share Index.  Longer term
performance has been strong, with increases of 291.0% in the net asset value and
213.0% in the share price in the ten years to 31 December 2003, compared with
increases in the FTSE All-Share Index and the UK Retail Prices Index of 31.2%
and 29.3% respectively.



Portfolio movements



The rise in the Enterprise Trust's net asset value per share in 2003 reflected
an overall increase in the investment portfolio of 13.1% reduced by the effect
of holding substantial cash or near-cash holdings throughout the year.



                                 - 3 -



The unquoted portfolio increased in value overall by 10.3% during the year,
benefiting from gains both from direct investments and from investment in funds.
A small proportion of the investment portfolio is still held in quoted
investments and these had a good year, rising in value by 30.5%.



New investments and disposals were roughly in balance in the investment
portfolio as a whole, with net purchases in the unquoted portfolio being funded
by disposals from the quoted portfolio.  At the year end 59.2% of the investment
portfolio was held in direct unquoted investments, 28.0% in funds investing in
unquoted companies and 12.8% in quoted investments.



In 2002 the Enterprise Trust benefited in falling markets from holding
substantial cash and near-cash holdings (referred to from this point as 'net
liquid holdings'). Conversely, in the rising market of 2003 relative performance
was adversely affected.  Net liquid holdings averaged approximately 28.7% of net
assets during the year.





Balance Sheet



The proportion of the Enterprise Trust's assets held in the investment portfolio
rose during the year from 69.5% to 73.5%, while that in net liquid holdings fell
correspondingly from 30.5% to 26.5%.  This was primarily the result of the
increase in the value of the investment portfolio.



The unquoted portfolio represented 64.1% of net assets at the year end compared
with 59.9% a year earlier.  The quoted portfolio was little changed at 9.4%.



Commitments to the unquoted portfolio rose substantially during the year
primarily as a result of the commitment of £50 million to Graphite Capital
Partners VI in April 2003.  At the end of the year total commitments were £101.8
million compared with net liquid holdings of £69.7 million and commitments a
year earlier of £54.4 million.  This is the first time for a number of years
that commitments have exceeded net liquid holdings.  It is likely that these
commitments will be drawn down over the next three or four years and that they
will be at least partly funded by realisations.  If, however, they had all
crystallised at the end of 2003 the Enterprise Trust's gearing would have been
10.9%.



                           - 4 -



Share Buy Backs



The discount of the share price to net asset value was consistently lower in
2003 than it had been in the previous year, fluctuating between 17.7% and 22.0%
having reached a peak of 32.8% in 2002.  We bought back no shares in the year.
When shares are available in the market in reasonable volumes and at a high
discount to net assets, we shall consider further purchases while maintaining
sufficient liquidity for existing commitments and for making new investments.



Statement of Total Return and Dividend



The total return for the year was £27.2 million or 30.0p per share.  This
represented 11.6% of opening shareholders' funds.  The capital return was £22.8
million or 25.1p per share, and the net revenue attributable to shareholders was
£4.4 million or 4.9p per share.



The net revenue attributable to shareholders was 7.6% higher than in the
previous year.  This primarily reflected higher dividend and interest income.
The overall management charges made by Graphite Capital have not changed as a
result of the commitment to Graphite Capital Partners VI and remain at 1.5% of
gross assets.



In 2003 net revenues would have fallen by 17.8% to 3.7p per share if a large
dividend had not been received from Maplin, one of the Enterprise Trust's
largest portfolio companies.  This has enabled the Board to recommend an
unchanged dividend of 4.3p per share.





Outlook



Confidence in the private equity market is higher than it was a year ago when
the international outlook and economic prospects were both highly uncertain.
While the recovery in stockmarkets has only been partial and there remain
significant areas of economic and political concern, there is a general sense
that the worst is past.



The demand for high quality private equity funds remains high, particularly from
fund of fund operators, while in our view the supply remains considerably lower.
  We expect the Enterprise Trust to make few new commitments while we believe
that the sector remains out of balance.



                                - 5 -



In the direct investment market there has been some increase in volumes and a
stronger new issue market after a period of unusual weakness.  The recovery in
confidence and competition for direct investments have together driven prices
higher, supported by debt finance and possibly also by lower target rates of
return.  There is a plentiful supply of senior and mezzanine debt at low
interest rates enabling private equity managers to pay higher prices while
taking on greater risk.  Prices may also be higher as managers reduce their
target rates of return in the expectation of lower returns from the quoted
markets against which they are ultimately compared.





Increased competition and a recovery in the new issue market signal an
improvement in the conditions for disposals.  We anticipate that the rate of
disposals from the Enterprise Trust's portfolio will be higher in the next
twelve months.



For further information, please contact:


Rod Richards / William Eccles                              Tel:  [phone]
Graphite Capital






GRAPHITE ENTERPRISE TRUST PLC
Preliminary Statement (unaudited) for the year ended 31 December 2003



CONSOLIDATED ASSETS
                                                                         At 31 December
                                                                           2003                    2002

                                                                         £'000s                  £'000s

Investments listed in Great Britain                                      24,446                  21,624
Investments listed outside Great Britain                                    168                     283
Unlisted investments at directors' valuation                            168,467                 144,410
Net current assets                                                       69,734                  73,012
Total assets less current liabilities                                   262,815                 239,329
Minority interests                                                      (4,110)                 (3,931)
Net assets attributable to ordinary shareholders                        258,705                 235,398


                                             - 6 -



CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF TOTAL RETURN (INCORPORATING THE REVENUE ACCOUNT)


For the year ended 31 December                         2003                                 2002


                                        Revenue     Capital       Total     Revenue      Capital        Total
                                         £'000s      £'000s      £'000s      £'000s       £'000s       £'000s

Gains and losses on investments               -      26,319      26,319           -     (18,514)     (18,514)
Income (see Note 1)                       7,537           -       7,537       7,408            -        7,408
Investment management charges           (1,076)     (3,229)     (4,305)     (1,096)      (3,287)      (4,383)
Other expenses                            (770)       (152)       (922)       (697)          461        (236)
Net return before finance costs and
tax
                                          5,691      22,938      28,629       5,615     (21,340)     (15,725)
Interest payable and similar               (15)           -        (15)         (8)            -          (8)
charges
Return on ordinary activities             5,676      22,938      28,614       5,607     (21,340)     (15,733)
before tax
Tax on ordinary activities              (1,242)       1,245           3     (1,488)        1,488            -
Return on ordinary activities after
tax
                                          4,434      24,183      28,617       4,119     (19,852)     (15,733)
Minority interests                            -     (1,406)     (1,406)           -      (1,760)      (1,760)
Return attributable to equity
shareholders
                                          4,434      22,777      27,211       4,119     (21,612)     (17,493)
Dividends in respect of ordinary
shares  (equity)
                                        (3,904)           -     (3,904)     (3,904)            -      (3,904)
Transfer to/(from) reserves                 530      22,777      23,307         215     (21,612)     (21,397)
Return per ordinary share                 4.88p      25.08p      29.96p       4.47p     (23.46p)     (18.99p)




CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
For the year ended 31 December                                               2003               2002
                                                                           £'000s            £'000s


Net cash inflow/(outflow) from operating activities                           943              (505)
Net cash outflow from servicing of finance                                   (15)                (7)
Net cash inflow from tax                                                      544                173
Net cash outflow from investing activities                                  (865)           (14,754)
Equity dividends paid                                                     (3,904)            (4,021)
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from movement in liquid resources               18,500            (14,500)
Net cash outflow from financing                                           (1,321)            (7,690)
Increase/(decrease) in cash                                                13,882           (41,304)



Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net funds


                                                               2003                     2002
                                                           £'000s     £'000s       £'000s        £'000s


Net liquid funds at 1 January                                         76,635                    100,874
Increase/(decrease) in cash as above                       13,882                (41,304)

Sale/(purchase) of institutional sterling funds          (18,500)                  14,500
Change in net liquid funds resulting from cash flows      (4,618)                (26,804)
Exchange difference                                          (39)                     461
Capitalised income                                          1,550                   2,104
Movement of net liquid funds                                         (3,107)                   (24,239)
Net liquid funds at 31 December                                       73,528                     76,635




                                                   - 7 -



Note 1


Analysis of Income
                                                                             2003               2002
                                                                           £'000s            £'000s


Dividends                                                                   1,682                703
Interest from investments                                                   3,152              4,654
Other income                                                                2,703              2,051
                                                                            7,537              7,408

The Directors propose a dividend of 4.3p (2002 - 4.3p) per share payable on 25
May 2004 to shareholders registered on 16 April 2004.


The Annual General Meeting will be held at 3.30 p.m. on 20 May 2004 at The Royal
Room, The Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel, 35 Charles Street, London W1J 5EB.  The
registered office of the Company is 4th Floor, Berkeley Square House, Berkeley
Square, London W1J 6BQ.



The above financial information comprises non-statutory accounts within the
meaning of Section 240 of the Companies Act 1985.  The financial information for
the year ended 31 December 2002 has been extracted from published accounts for
the year ended 31 December 2002 which have been delivered to the Registrar of
Companies and on which the report of the auditors was unqualified.  For the year
ended 31 December 2003 copies of the audited Report and Accounts will be posted
to shareholders on or about 8 April 2004 and copies may be obtained during
normal business hours from the Company's registered office thereafter.


                                                           By order of the Board

                                             Graphite Capital Management Limited
                                                                       Secretary
                                                                   18 March 2004







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