Final Results For Year to 31 January 2007

To: Stock Exchange For immediate release: 5 March 2007 MARTIN CURRIE PORTFOLIO INVESTMENT TRUST plc Annual results for the year to 31 January 2007 Chairman's statement Over the year to 31 January 2007, the company's NAV per share rose by 9.1%; a solid return, but marginally behind the 9.7% return recorded by the Company's benchmark index, the FTSE All-Share. As the Company's primary objective is to provide a core holding for UK-based investors, we retain the FTSE All-Share index, which tracks the fortunes of the UK market, as our benchmark. Thanks in part to the appreciation of sterling, the UK stockmarket, our benchmark outperformed most of its international peers over the year. This year our investments outside the UK detracted from relative performance. Tom Walker, our manager, reviews performance more fully below. Earnings and dividends Corporate earnings growth has been robust, which is reflected in the Company's portfolio. Compared with last year, revenue return per share has increased by 12%, rising from 2.5p to 2.8p. The Board is recommending that a final dividend of 1.9p be paid, which, together with the interim dividend payment of 0.5p, brings total dividend payments for the period to 2.4p, an increase of 9.1% over last year. Subject to approval by the Company's shareholders at its annual general meeting, the final dividend will be paid on 8 June 2007 to shareholders on the register as at 18 May 2007. Investment strategy The Board continues to monitor the Company's investment strategy to ensure that it remains appropriate and meets the needs of its shareholders. Our three-tiered strategy enables shareholders to benefit from a combination of a core holding of UK equities, a portfolio of the best international stocks and a distinctive exposure to private equity. This was the second year in which the new performance fee arrangements introduced in 2005 were in operation. In the 12 months to 31 January 2006, the fund outperformed by almost 7% against its benchmark and the investment manager earned a performance fee. This financial year, the fund underperformed its benchmark, so only the base fee of 0.5% of net assets was applied. The element of underperformance will have to be recovered before another performance fee can be paid. Discount The Board's policy remains unchanged; the discount will be maintained in single- figure digits where possible, utilising the company's buyback powers when necessary. Over the year to 31 January 2007 the Company bought back 7,562,515 shares or 5% of the share capital as at 31 January 2006, at discounts ranging from 6.9% to 10.9%. This added 0.50p to NAV per share. As at 31 January, the discount stood at 8.0%. The Company has stated that should its average discount exceed 7.5% over the 12- week period prior to each financial year-end, shareholders will have the right to redeem their shares. This year, the average discount during this 12-week period was 7.3%. The Board is pleased to have achieved improved stability in the discount. We believe this means that the Company's value is now more accurately reflected in its share price, and that management and shareholders can concentrate on what matters most - investment performance Investment outlook Given the modest multiple currently commanded by UK equities, they remain attractive. However some of the best investment opportunities for the year ahead seem likely to be found in international markets. We always encourage the investment manager to use the strength of Martin Currie's global investment expertise to pick the best international stocks, in whatever market they might be listed. The board has therefore decided to allow the manager, over time, to increase international investments beyond the current ceiling of 25%. The majority of the portfolio will remain in UK-quoted investments. As noted above, our benchmark is the FTSE All Share index. I trust this will help to produce good results for shareholders in the coming year. Manager's review Performance It was another good year for global equity markets, which continued to generate strong, positive returns. Martin Currie Portfolio Investment Trust participated in these gains, yet lagged its benchmark index by 0.6% over the period. There were three main factors. First, international markets underperformed the UK to a significant degree, in large part due to the strength of sterling. While our international investments outperformed overseas equity indices, they lagged the Trust's benchmark, the FTSE All-Share index. Secondly, our preference for large capitalisation stocks counted against us. The FTSE 100 index, representing the UK's largest companies, returned a respectable 11.3%. However, the FTSE 250 index, which represents the UK's next 250 largest companies, rose by 24%. Finally, our preference for resource stocks such as BP and BHP was unhelpful; they underperformed the market over the period. Review United Kingdom UK economic growth continued to come in ahead of expectations, and rising interest rates supported sterling in the foreign exchange markets. The result was that, with the exception of continental Europe, the UK stockmarket delivered a stronger return than any other developed market region. In retrospect, it appears that we were overly cautious on the UK economy. The recovery of the housing market and the resilience of consumer spending surprised us. Because of our caution, we sold our holding in housebuilder Persimmon too early and missed out on the strong recovery in Marks and Spencer. Instead, we were more attracted to companies generating their earnings internationally -many of these are among the largest stocks in the UK market. However, these 'mega- caps' underperformed the broader market over the year, partly because one of the chief drivers of the UK market has been the frenetic pace of merger and acquisition activity. The largest companies in the UK market are, by virtue of their size, often excluded from this activity, being considered too large to be bought out. Seven FTSE 100 companies were taken over during 2006, representing just 6% of that index by market capitalisation. So that has been a headwind for larger companies' share prices. But while the UK's largest company, BP, was certainly handicapped by its size, it has also been a victim of the mistakes made by its own management. The media hysteria surrounding their missteps helped to drive its share price down by over 20%. We believe that the market is now discounting too much bad news for BP and that the downward spiral will end - we are holding onto our position. Intercontinental Hotels, which we bought last summer, has been a more successful holding. Vodafone, which we added to during the year, was another highlight in the UK portfolio - it has recovered from its low, rising from £1.08 to £1.48. Other large cap stocks which have done well for us included Tesco, Reckitt Benckiser and Scottish & Southern. Looking beyond the FTSE 100 index, strong performers included hedge fund manager Man Group, pub operator Marston's (formerly Wolverhampton and Dudley) and Weir Group, the Glasgow-based global engineer. International Changes in exchange rates have been particularly influential in determining returns from internetional markets during the last twelve months. Continental Europe was the best region - as the euro depreciated by "only" 3% against sterling. The yen and the dollar fell by 14% and 10% respectively. Sterling's strength is hard to justify on any sort of purchasing parity basis - I would not count on a flood of tourists seeking value-for-money purchases hitting Britain this summer - quite the opposite! In currency terms alone, we believe overseas assets and earnings are currently increasingly attractive and we intend increasing our exposure there in 2007. Although we could achieve this in the UK, by increasing our weighting in non-UK listed investments, a wider choice of investment opportunities becomes available. When buying shares in non UK companies, we seek to capture investment themes that are not available in the UK market. The Japanese economic recovery is one such theme. While this story has further to run, it did not serve us well in 2006. Although our Japanese holdings performed extremely strongly for us in 2005, it is fair to say that our confidence in the 'recovery' there has taken a knock. However, our international investments are more often driven by compelling ideas on a company-by-company basis, rather than by broad themes. For example, Anglo Irish Bank is a high growth company which offers considerably greater appeal than some of the pure UK domestic banks, and National Bank of Greece is a similarly high-growth story. Monsanto, which is the leader in genetically modified crops, has served us very well and we sold it during the year. In terms of mobile telephone companies, few have greater potential than China Mobile, a stock we bought during the last year. In contrast to our experience in the UK, we held two internetional companies that were taken over - Lafarge North America (building materials) and Schering (pharmaceuticals). Both attracted healthy premia. Private equity Our private equity investments, which represent about 13% of our net assets, performed strongly, particularly in the second half of the year. As deal sizes mushroom and the media latches onto the flight of UK executives from the quoted to the unquoted world, private equity is receiving greater attention than ever before. It feels like a bubble may have developed. So, while we may be too early, we have been happy to reduce our private equity exposure as the year progressed. The F&C Private Equity Trust alone represents about 10% of our total assets. Part of this investment is in A-shares, where the underlying assets are being sold and capital returned to shareholders. We received over £7 million in capital repayments this year. Our remaining A-shares are currently valued at £7.3 million, but we expect a good uplift as these mature investments are realised over the coming year or so. Outlook The investment outlook is, perhaps more than ever, dependent on interest rates. Although commentators inevitably focus on central bank activity in setting short- term interest rates, it is actually low long-term rates that have underpinned strong investment returns (from property, stockmarkets and from private equity) in recent years. Forecasting movements in short term rates is hard, but we expect long term interest rates to remain low. This should be supportive of equity markets and we believe that equities should generate real positive returns for investors in 2007. As stated above, while we remain committed to the UK as the core of our portfolio, it does seem that there are even greater opportunities outside the UK, so the international weighting is likely to rise over the coming year. - ends - For further information, please contact: Tom Walker 0131 229 5252 Martin Currie Investment Management Ltd twalker@martincurrie.com MARTIN CURRIE PORTFOLIO INVESTMENT TRUST plc Income statement for the year ended 31 January 2007 Unaudited Revenue Capital Total £000 £000 £000 Gains on - realised - 5,310 5,310 investments - unrealised - 2,170 2,170 Currency gains - 54 54 Income - franked 4,367 7,944 12,311 - unfranked 696 - 696 Investment management fee (343) (686) (1,029) Performance fee - (131) (131) Other expenses (440) - (440) _______ _______ _______ Net return before finance costs and 4,280 14,661 18,941 taxation Finance costs: debt (50) (94) (144) Finance costs: shareholders' funds (4,187) (15,325) (19,512) Finance costs: repurchase of ordinary - 758 758 shares _______ _______ _______ Return on ordinary activities before 43 - 43 taxation Taxation on ordinary activities (43) - (43) _______ _______ _______ Return attributable to shareholders * - - - _______ _______ _______ * As the company's share capital is classified as a liability for accounting purposes, the net return to shareholders is accounted for in the finance costs caption being £895,000 as a revenue return (2006: £653,000 loss) and £15,325,000 of a capital return (2006: £39,793,000). The total column of this statement is the profit and loss account of the company. All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing operations. A Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses is not required, as all gains and losses of the company have been reflected in the above statement. On 5 March 2007, the Board recommended a final dividend of 1.90p per share. Subject to shareholders approval, the dividend will be paid on 8 June 2007 to shareholders on the register on 18 May 2007. The total amount of the distribution, calculated with reference to the number of shares in issue at 2 March 2007 is £2,727,029.83. This results in a total dividend payable in respect for the year of 2.40p per share. This compares to the total dividend declared with respect to the financial year ended 31 January 2006 of 2.20p per share. The financial information contained within this preliminary announcement does not constitute the company's statutory financial statements as defined in section 240 of the Companies Act 1985 for the years ended 31 January 2007 or 2006, but is derived from those financial statements. Statutory financial statements for 2006 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and those for 2007 will be delivered following the company's annual general meeting. MARTIN CURRIE PORTFOLIO INVESTMENT TRUST plc Income statement for the year ended 31 January 2006 Audited Revenue Capital Total £000 £000 £000 Gains on - realised - 7,028 7,028 investments - unrealised - 29,498 29,498 Currency - (69) (69) (losses) Income - franked 4,113 4,526 8,639 - unfranked 768 - 768 Investment management fee (279) (558) (837) Performance fee - (1,551) (1,551) Other expenses (575) - (575) _______ _______ _______ Net return before finance costs and 4,027 38,874 42,901 taxation Finance costs: debt - - - Finance costs: shareholders' funds (4,635) (39,140) (43,775) Finance costs: repurchase of - 919 919 ordinary shares _______ _______ _______ Return on ordinary activities (608) 653 45 before taxation Taxation on ordinary activities (45) - (45) _______ _______ _______ Return attributable to shareholders (653) 653 - _______ _______ _______ MARTIN CURRIE PORTFOLIO INVESTMENT TRUST plc BALANCE SHEET As at 31 January As at 31 January 2007 2006 (Unaudited) (Audited) Fixed assets £000 £000 £000 £000 Investments at market value Listed on The Stock Exchange in the UK 150,083 142,373 Listed on stock exchanges 45,249 36,834 abroad _______ _______ 195,332 179,207 Current assets Debtors 284 242 Cash at bank 2,047 2,145 _______ _______ 2,331 2,387 Creditors Amounts falling due within (11,265) (1,943) one year _______ _______ Net current (8,934) 444 (liabilities)/assets _______ _______ Net assets attributable to shareholders 186,398 179,651 _______ _______ Net asset value per 129.9p 118.9p ordinary share AIC net asset value per 127.5p 116.9p share MARTIN CURRIE PORTFOLIO INVESTMENT TRUST plc STATEMENT OF CASH FLOW Year ended Year ended 31 January 2007 31 January 2006 (Unaudited) (Audited) £000 £000 £000 £000 Net cash inflow from operating 9,685 8,298 activities Servicing of finance Finance costs: debt (102) - Finance costs: shareholders' (3,292) (4,635) funds _______ _______ Net cash outflow from (3,394) (4,635) servicing of finance Capital expenditure and financial investment Payments to acquire (50,048) (57,578) investments Receipts from disposal of 42,392 64,085 investments _______ _______ Net cash (outflow)/inflow from (7,656) 6,507 capital expenditure and financial investment _______ _______ Net cash (outflow)/inflow (1,365) 10,170 before financing Financing Repurchase of ordinary share (8,715) (10,592) capital Movement in short-term 9,953 - borrowings _______ _______ Decrease in cash for the year (127) (422) _______ _______ Notes 1. Returns and net asset value (as defined by the Articles) The return and net asset value per ordinary share are calculated with reference to the following figures: Year ended Year ended Revenue return 31 January 2007 31 January 2006 per share Revenue return attributable to - £(653,000) ordinary shareholders Finance costs: shareholders' £4,187,000 £4,635,000 funds £4,187,000 £3,982,000 Average number of shares in 148,864,439 158,911,813 issue during period Revenue return per ordinary 2.81p 2.51p share Capital return per share Capital return attributable to - £653,000 ordinary shareholders Finance costs: £15,325,000 £39,140,000 shareholders' funds Finance costs: repurchase of £(758,000) £(919,000) shares £14,567,000 £38,874,000 Average number of shares in 148,864,439 158,911,813 issue during period Capital return per ordinary 9.79p 24.46p share Total return 12.60p 26.97p per share Net asset value As at 31 As at 31 per share January 2007 January 2006 Net assets £186,398,000 £179,651,000 attributable to shareholders Number of 143,527,886 151,090,401 shares in issue at period end Net asset value 129.9p 118.9p per share 2. Reconciliation of accounting and AIC net asset values As at 31 As at 31 January 2007 January 2006 Accounting net 129.9p 118.9p asset value per share Exclusion of (2.4p) (2.0p) non distributed current period revenue AIC net asset 127.5p 116.9p value per share

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