Final Results

Taverners Trust PLC
24 June 2002



THE TAVERNERS TRUST PLC

PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT OF UNAUDITED ANNUAL RESULTS

for the year ended 30 April 2002



Chairman's Statement

For the financial year to 30th April 2002, on which we are reporting, Taverners
Trust has produced an impressive investment performance with its fully diluted
net asset value (FDNAV) improving by 8.8% while the FTSE Actuaries Leisure
Entertainment and Hotels index is up by 2.3%. We use this index as a benchmark
because over 90% of our investments are in this sector. Over the same period the
FTSE All Share ex Investment Company index (the All Share) fell by 12.2%. During
our second half year from 30th October 2001 the FDNAV of Taverners Trust shares
advanced strongly by 15.5% during a period when the All Share managed only to
progress by 4.0%. The Trust's FDNAV marginally underperformed the benchmark
which registered an improvement of 19.6%. The reason for this failure to outpace
the benchmark over the second half-year was the comparative recovery of the
major hotel stocks from the low levels reached after the tragic events of 11th
September. We do hold two of the smaller hotel stocks but our main investment
activity is directed toward the pub, club and regional brewer subsector.
However, since I last wrote to investors on 19th December, the Trust's FDNAV has
seen steady outperformance up to 19th June and progressed by 4.8% at a time when
the All Share has retreated by 8.7% and the benchmark index has seen a small
fall of 0.1%. This good record has continued since our financial year end with
the Trust's FDNAV virtually holding steady with a fall of 0.6% while the
benchmark has fallen by 7.8% and the All Share by 9.6%.

I wrote at the height of the boom in technology shares in December 1999 that we
were confident that the shares of companies that made good profits and paid
sensible dividends would eventually return to favour. This prediction has duly
come to fruition and the figures stated above make clear that the Trust has been
the beneficiary of the improved sentiment towards such stocks. Furthermore, the
experience of the Trust in recent months suggests that as we may be entering a
difficult part of the economic cycle for markets, the stocks in which we invest
may once again constitute a safe haven as they have proved on occasion in the
past. It is gratifying that this performance is being achieved by a traditional
Trust which is only lightly geared. Indeed the record over the past year goes
some distance towards vindicating our belief when launching the trust in 1996,
that it is possible to achieve solid capital growth through selective investment
in small companies in the brewery and pub industry. What is disappointing is
that as yet this success is not being recognised by the movement in the Trust's
share price, which in each of the recent periods we have looked at above has
registered a steadily increasing discount to the FDNAV. We believe however, that
it will only be a matter of time before this situation is corrected.

I remarked at the half-year on the re-rating of our regional brewer holdings. It
is noteworthy that over the year as a whole more than half the stocks in the
best performing third of the portfolio were regional brewers, although regional
brewers account for less than a third of all stocks held in the portfolio. The
three highest achieving regionals were Belhaven Brewery Group, Shepherd Neame
and Greene King, the shares of which respectively increased in value by 64.2%,
54.1% and 48.0% during our financial year. This pattern remained strong in the
second half of our financial year as the shares of Wolverhampton and Dudley
climbed strongly when it became clear that management's plan for the company was
a far better option than the bid from Pubmaster. The shares of the two London
brewers Fullers and Youngs also recovered during this period.

Over the year however, the star of the portfolio was our holding in Enterprise
Inns which has achieved a series of earnings-enhancing deals involving large
portfolios of houses originally owned by the major brewers. The success of
Enterprise has concentrated minds on the fact that the most important point
about a pub is to find the right person to control the business, and that the
tenancy system, when adapted with sensible flexibility, can provide benefits for
both tenant or lessee and landlord. This well-tried system is therefore the best
way to run the majority of public houses in the country especially at a time
when managed house companies are vulnerable to the increasing burden of
regulation. At the time when the Trust was launched in 1996 the market was
fascinated by the evolution of the managed retail pub companies that were
populating the high streets with their concepts. Subsequently, one or two of
these have run into difficulties. The merits of Enterprise Inns were somewhat
overlooked by the market and I am glad to say that an early investment made by
the Trust in this company has paid off well. The acquisitions that Enterprise
Inns have made (or in the case of the Nomura pubs, have an option to make in the
future) have enabled the company to consolidate its position as the leading pub
company. The long awaited flotation of Punch Taverns, which has a similar
business, finally took place last month but on a lower multiple than that
originally envisaged by their advisors; as yet your Trust has not invested in
Punch.

We are told that the UK economy is not expanding at present, yet outside London
anecdotal evidence suggests that the brewery and pub subsector continues to do
well. May and early June have been wet so that like for like sales volumes were
dull against last year's strong comparative, but many pubs will do well out of
the Jubilee and the World Cup football, especially those which have invested in
wide screen televisions. Obviously some good summer weather would be beneficial,
but we expect the sub-sector to continue to outperform through these rather
depressing months of the economic cycle partly because we expect a pause in the
tendency for increasing numbers of people to holiday abroad. We think there will
be consolidation in the restaurant sub-sector and also among the smaller managed
house companies. On the other hand we believe shares in some of the latter
together with the night clubs represent good value as they have recently been
neglected and should eventually improve with the economy; we do not think this
area will suffer in the event of an overhaul of the licensing laws. Meanwhile we
think the shares of the regional brewers will continue to be firm.

On this occasion we have decided to dip a little into our healthy revenue
reserve in order to increase our small dividend from 0.45p to 0.50p. We did
receive an 80p special dividend from Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries which
for Taverners Trust amounted to £120,000, but after consultation with our
auditors, have decided to treat it as a capital receipt.

Suggestions have been made to the effect that defensive stocks have had a good
run and it is time to move into growth stocks as economies recover. We believe
however that given the current volatility in markets and the continuing
uncertainties facing the world's largest economy, the regional brewery and pub
subsectors may continue to do better than the main indices. We hope we are able
to exploit this situation by continuing to select stocks that will move ahead
faster than our benchmark.





L J Ross

Chairman

24 June 2002




The unaudited results were:
Statement of Total Return
(Incorporating the Revenue Account of the Company*)
                                                                  Year ended                       Year ended
                                                                30 April 2002                     30 April 2001
                                                                 (unaudited)                        (audited)
                                                           Revenue    Capital      Total    Revenue    Capital     Total
                                                             £'000      £'000      £'000      £'000      £'000     £'000
Gains on investments                                             -      2,059      2,059          -        713       713
Income                                                         519          -        519        520          -       520
Investment management fee                                    (150)      (150)      (300)      (141)      (141)     (282)
Other expenses                                               (202)          -      (202)      (192)          -     (192)
Net return before finance costs and taxation                   167      1,909      2,076        187        572       759
Interest payable and similar charges                         (103)      (100)      (203)      (100)      (100)     (200)
Return on ordinary activities before tax                        64      1,809      1,873         87        472       559
Tax on ordinary activities                                     (2)          2          -        (3)          2       (1)
Return on ordinary activities after tax                         62      1,811      1,873         84        474       558
Dividends in respect of equity shares                         (80)          -       (80)       (72)          -      (72)
Transfer (from)/to reserves                                   (18)      1,811      1,793         12        474       486
Return per Ordinary share (pence):
Basic                                                         0.39      11.36      11.75       0.53       2.97      3.50

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

All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from continuing
operations.




Balance Sheet
                                                                                       As at               As at
                                                                               30 April 2002       30 April 2001
                                                                                 (unaudited)           (audited)
                                                                                       £'000               £'000
Fixed assets
Investments                                                                           22,438              20,603
Current assets
Debtors                                                                                  215                  44
Cash at bank and in hand                                                                   -                 146
                                                                                         215                 190
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year                                         (242)               (175)
Net current (liabilities)/assets                                                        (27)                  15
Total assets less current liabilities                                                 22,411              20,618
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year                              (3,000)             (3,000)
Total net assets                                                                      19,411              17,618
Capital and reserves
Called-up share capital                                                                3,984               3,984
Share premium account                                                                 10,536              10,536
Other reserves:
Warrant reserve                                                                          981                 981
Capital reserve - realised                                                             1,922               2,064
Capital reserve - unrealised                                                           1,832               (121)
Revenue reserve                                                                          156                 174
Total equity shareholders' funds                                                      19,411              17,618
Net asset value per Ordinary share (pence):
Basic                                                                                 121.81              110.55
Fully-diluted                                                                         118.27              108.84





Cash Flow Statement
                                                                                 Year ended                   Year ended
                                                                              30 April 2002                30 April 2001
                                                                                (unaudited)                    (audited)
                                                                       £'000          £'000          £'000         £'000
Net cash inflow from operating activities                                                47                           31
Servicing of finance
Bank and loan interest paid                                            (203)                         (200)
Net cash outflow from servicing of finance                                            (203)                        (200)
Financial investment
Purchases of investments                                             (3,960)                       (4,860)
Sales of investments                                                   4,019                         3,699
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from financial investment                                      59                      (1,161)
Equity dividends paid                                                                  (72)                         (64)
Net cash outflow before financing                                                     (169)                      (1,394)
Net cashflow from financing                                                               -                            -
Decrease in cash                                                                      (169)                      (1,394)
Reconciliation of net cash flow to movements in net debt
Decrease in cash as above                                                             (169)                      (1,394)
Net debt at 1 May                                                                   (2,854)                      (1,460)
Net debt at 30 April                                                                (3,023)                      (2,854)




Notes:-

1 The breakdown of income for the year to 30 April 2002 and 30 April 2001 was as
follows:
                                                                     2002         2001
                                                                    £'000        £'000
Income from investments
Franked investment income                                             503          501
Overseas dividends                                                      3           10
                                                                      506          511
Other income
Deposit interest                                                        9            9
Underwriting commission                                                 4            -
                                                                       13            9
Total income                                                          519          520

2 The basic revenue return per Ordinary share is calculated on the net revenue
on ordinary activities after taxation of £62,000 (2001 - £84,000) and on
15,936,000 (2001 - 15,936,000) Ordinary shares, being the weighted average
number of Ordinary shares in issue during the year.

3 The basic capital return per Ordinary share is calculated on the net capital
gains for the year of £1,811,000 (2001 - £474,000) and on 15,936,000 (2001 -
15,936,000) Ordinary shares, being the weighted average number of Ordinary
shares in issue during the year.

4 The financial information set out above does not constitute the Company's
statutory accounts for the year ended 30 April 2002 or the year ended 30 April
2001. The financial information for 2001 is derived from the statutory accounts
for 2001, which have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditors
have reported on the 2001 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 2002 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 in due course.

5 The Directors have today declared a first and final dividend of 0.50p per
Ordinary share for the year ended 30 April 2002 (2001 - 0.45p) which, if
approved by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting, will be payable on 19
September 2002 to shareholders on the register on 16 August 2002.

6 The Annual Report will be posted to shareholders in due course and further
copies will be available from the registered office, One Bow Churchyard,
Cheapside, London EC4M 9HH.

24 June 2002

Aberdeen Asset Management PLC

- Secretaries


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