Top 10 Holdings

Merchants Trust PLC
09 January 2004


                                     THE MERCHANTS TRUST PLC
                             TOP 10 HOLDINGS AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2003

Stock Name                                                          Market Value        %
                                                                               £

BP                                                                    40,996,500     8.52
HSBC                                                                  39,949,000     8.30
GlaxoSmithkline                                                       25,600,000     5.32
Shell Transport and Trading                                           23,184,900     4.82
Barclays                                                              20,228,950     4.20
Royal Bank of Scotland                                                19,752,000     4.10
BT                                                                    15,530,625     3.23
Lloyds TSB                                                            15,052,800     3.13
HBOS                                                                  12,299,500     2.56
Imperial Tobacco                                                      11,000,000     2.29

Total Assets less Current Liabilities                                481,307,790


Enquiries:

Kirsten Salt
Company Secretary
Tel: [phone]

9 January 2004




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