Interim Results

Scottish American Investment Co PLC
31 July 2003



THE SCOTTISH AMERICAN INVESTMENT COMPANY PLC


Preliminary Results (Unaudited) for the six months to 30th June 2003



The Scottish American Investment Company PLC (SAINTS) is a general investment
trust within the Global Growth sector. The Company's investment objective is to
offer private investors a well diversified portfolio that achieves a balance
between growth of capital and income. The Company has a focus on quoted
equities, with substantial overseas exposure, but it also holds direct
investments in UK property, fixed interest, cash and unquoted shares. SAINTS,
which has total assets of £317 million, is managed by First State Investment
Management (UK) Limited, part of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia Group.



The Scottish American Investment Company PLC today announces its preliminary
results

for the six months to 30th June 2003.


Summary

Performance - SAINTS' net asset value total return rose +6.02 per cent which is
in line with a peer group of similar trusts. This compares with an increase in
the total return for our benchmark (65 per cent FTSE All-Share Index : 35 per
cent FTSE World ex-UK Index) of +7.28 per cent.

Second quarterly dividend of 1.41p per share (2002:1.40p) payable on 1st October
2003.

Yield - The yield on the Company's shares during this period has been higher
than that of its competitors within the AITC global growth peer group and
significantly higher than the yield on the FTSE All-Share Index. The yield is
currently 4.2%.




Commenting on the results, the Chairman, Brian Ivory said:


The Company's net asset value per share at 30th June 2003 was 167.7p compared to
161.9p at 31st December 2002. We are continuing to make progress and the trend
is now clear. Under the direction of the Board, First State has taken
significant steps to address the Company's poor historic performance record and
I am encouraged by the progress that has been made following these changes.





Summary of Results:                    30th June 2003    31st December 2002
Shareholders' Funds (£'000)                    227,260                 222,867
Net Asset Value per Share                        167.7p                  161.9p
Dividend per Share                     2.82p *                            5.61p
Share Price                                     135.25p                 132.75p

* For half year
Total Return Performance:              Six months to     Year to
                                       30th June 2003    31st December 2002 %
                                                     %
SAINTS NAV                                        +6.0   -26.1
SAINTS Composite Benchmark Index *                +7.3   -24.3

* 65% UK FTSE All-Share Index:
35% FTSE World (ex UK) Index



Investment Background

It has been an exceptionally volatile period for investors. There have been many
uncertainties the greatest of which  has been the situation in Iraq. Markets
were weak in the period prior to the war but recovered sharply as hostilities
began and have held on to these gains subsequently.


Outlook

Whilst two of the major uncertainties for world economies appear to have been
resolved, with the conclusion of  hostilities in Iraq and a fall in the price of
oil, many of the underlying problems remain.

The Eurozone and Japan, the second and third largest world economies, are not
operating policies which are conducive to  growth.  Too many countries are
relying on increasing exports to the US.  Moreover, the US is already running a
large current account deficit and the weakening of the dollar is making exports
to the US less competitive.

While the US is clearly adopting expansionary fiscal and monetary policies to
boost its economy, it is not clear that  it will succeed in the near term as
consumers and companies are highly indebted.  The downturn there has been
relatively shallow and we continue to believe that  recovery will be somewhat
fragile.  The UK economy is performing better than most with the increase in
government spending coming at a fortunate moment.


Dividend


The Company will pay a second interim dividend of 1.41p per share on 1st October
2003 to shareholders registered on 5th September 2003 making a total for the
year to date of 2.82p compared to 2.80p for last year.


The current yield of 4.2% is higher than that of the Company's competitors
within the AITC global growth peer group and is significantly higher than the
yield on the FTSE All-Share Index. The Company's focus remains on generating
total return to shareholders and the ability to generate this level of yield is
an important contributor to total return.



It is now just over a year since First State completed a series of fundamental
changes to the management, which were initiated following the acquisition of the
Company's former manager Stewart Ivory, in 2000. The trend of improving
performance is now evident both in terms of performance relative to a peer group
of similar trusts and relative to the benchmark.



Results

Attached is a copy of the preliminary results.  These are presented in a format
which summarises the information which will be given in the forthcoming Interim
Report.

For further information, please contact:

Lucy Allan
Head of Investment Trusts
First State Investments, Edinburgh                 Tel: [phone]


31st July 2003





STATEMENT OF TOTAL RETURN (UNAUDITED)

for the six months to 30th June 2003

                       Six months 30th June to 2003     Six months 30th June to 2002
                                             
                         Income*  Capital     Total    Income*     Capital     Total
                           £'000    £'000     £'000      £'000       £'000     £'000

Losses on                     -    (9,020)   (9,020)         -    (28,050)   (28,050)
investments
Unrealised gains /            -    16,960    16,960          -    (11,923)   (11,923)
(losses) on             ---------  --------    ------  ---------   --------    -------
investments

Gains / (Losses) on           -     7,940     7,940          -    (39,973)   (39,973)
investments
Income from               4,431         -     4,431      5,329          -      5,329
investments
Rental income             1,204         -     1,204      1,125          -      1,125
Other income                566         -       566        273          -        273
Investment management        42       127       169         23         67         90
fee
Currency losses               -        (8)       (8)         -        (76)       (76)
Other expenses             (458)        -      (458)      (669)         -       (669)
                        ---------  --------    ------  ---------   --------    -------

Net return before
finance costs and
taxation                  5,785     8,059    13,844      6,081    (39,982)   (33,901)
Finance costs of           (736)   (2,210)   (2,946)      (737)    (2,210)    (2,947)
borrowing               ---------  --------    ------  ---------   --------    -------

Return on ordinary
activities before
taxation                  5,049     5,849    10,898      5,344    (42,192)   (36,848)
Tax on ordinary            (678)      604       (74)      (720)       618       (102)
activities              ---------  --------    ------  ---------   --------    -------

Return attributable to    4,371     6,453    10,824      4,624    (41,574)   (36,950)
equity
shareholders
                        ---------  --------    ------  ---------   --------    -------
Ordinary dividends on    (3,815)        -    (3,815)    (3,882)         -     (3,882)
equity shares:
2.82p per share
(2002-2.8p)             ---------  --------    ------  ---------   --------    -------

Transfer to/(from)          556     6,453     7,009        742    (41,574)   (40,832)
reserves                ---------  --------    ------  ---------   --------    -------

Return per ordinary        3.20p     4.73p     7.93p      3.27p    (29.43p)   (26.16p)
share                   ---------  --------    ------  ---------   --------    -------


* The income column of this statement is the Profit and Loss Account of the
Company.

All income and capital items derive from continuing operations.





STATEMENT OF TOTAL RETURN (UNAUDITED)

                                             Year ended 31st December 2002
                                                
                                      Income*               Capital       Total
                                        £'000                 £'000       £'000

Losses on investments                       -               (60,445)   (60,445)
Unrealised losses on investments            -               (29,311)   (29,311)
                                       --------            ----------    -------

Losses on investments                       -               (89,756)   (89,756)
Income from investments                 8,890                     -      8,890
Rental income                           2,267                     -      2,267
Other income                              918                     -        918
Investment management fee                 103                   310        413
Currency gains                              -                   (67)       (67)
Other expenses                         (1,041)                    -     (1,041)
                                       --------            ----------    -------

Net return before finance costs
and
taxation                               11,137               (89,513)   (78,376)
Finance costs of borrowing             (1,473)               (4,420)    (5,893)
                                       --------            ----------    -------

Return on ordinary activities
before
taxation                                9,664               (93,933)   (84,269)
Tax on ordinary activities             (1,732)                1,605       (127)
                                       --------            ----------    -------

Return attributable to equity           7,932               (92,328)   (84,396)
shareholders
                                       --------            ----------    -------
Ordinary dividends on equity           (7,742)                    -     (7,742)
shares:
5.57p per share
                                       --------            ----------    -------

Transfer to/(from) reserves               190               (92,328)   (92,138)
                                       --------            ----------    -------

Return per ordinary share                5.64p               (65.63p)   (59.99p)
                                       --------            ----------    -------


* The income column of this statement is the Profit and Loss Account of the
Company.

All income and capital items derive from continuing operations.




SUMMARISED BALANCE SHEET (UNAUDITED)

As at 30th June 2003

                                       30th June   30th June     31st December
                                            2003       2002               2002
                                           £'000      £'000              £'000

Total Investments                        292,179    327,917            282,367
Net Current Assets                        24,594     38,970             30,267
                                          --------   --------       ------------

Total Assets less Current                316,773    366,887            312,634
Liabilities
Creditors due after one year             (89,513)   (90,020)           (89,767)
                                          --------   --------       ------------

Equity Shareholders' Funds               227,260    276,867            222,867
                                          ========   ========       ============

Net asset value per share                 167.7p     198.4p             161.9p


CASH FLOW STATEMENT (UNAUDITED)

For the six months to 30th June 2003

                               Six months to    Six months to    Year to 31st
                               30th June 2003   30th June 2002   December 2002
                                        £'000            £'000           £'000

Cash and deposits at the start         34,528           26,970          26,970
of the year                           ---------        ---------       ---------
Income
Dividends received                      3,506            3,652           6,393
Interest received                       1,427            1,687           2,796
Underwriting commission and             1,331            1,140           2,274
other income
Investment management fee                  42               35              35
Performance fee                            58                -              82
Other administrative expenses            (465)            (736)         (1,074)
paid                                  ---------        ---------       ---------
Income less administrative              5,899            5,778          10,506
expenses                              ---------        ---------       ---------

Interest paid on borrowings              (800)            (800)         (1,600)
Dividends paid to                      (3,862)          (4,081)         (7,994)
shareholders                          ---------        ---------       ---------
Cash paid in respect of                (4,662)          (4,881)         (9,594)
interest and dividends                ---------        ---------       ---------

Tax paid                                  (82)             (84)           (128)
                                      ---------        ---------       ---------
Cash received in respect of             1,155              813             784
income transactions                   ---------        ---------       ---------
Capital
Purchases of investments             (133,630)        (141,405)       (297,799)
Sales of investments                  130,960          174,243         326,646
                                      ---------        ---------       ---------
                                       (2,670)          32,838          28,847

Repurchase of Ordinary share           (2,812)         (15,066)        (17,563)
capital
Performance fee                           175              327             246
Investment management fee                 127              103             111
Interest paid on borrowings            (2,400)          (2,400)         (4,800)
Currency losses                            (8)             (84)            (67)
                                      ---------        ---------       ---------
Cash (paid)/received in                (7,588)          15,718           6,774
respect of capital                    ---------        ---------       ---------
transactions
Total cash (paid)/received             (6,433)          16,531           7,558
                                      ---------        ---------       ---------
Cash and deposits at end of            28,095           43,501          34,528
the period                            =========        =========       =========





(a)  Reconciliation of total income as shown in the Statement of Total Return to
income less

administrative expenses in the Cash Flow Statement
                                           Six months  Six months     Year to
                                              to 30th     to 30th        31st
                                                 June        June    December
                                                 2003        2002        2002
                                                                    
                                                £'000       £'000       £'000
Total income per the Statement of Total         6,201       6,727      12,075
Return
Total expenses per the Statement of Total        (416)       (646)       (938)
Return                                       ----------  ----------  ----------
                                                5,785       6,081      11,137
Increase in dividends accounted for but for
which the cash had not been received at the
year end
                                                 (104)       (235)       (612)
Decrease / (increase) in other debtors             13          (7)         65
Increase / (decrease) in creditors                205         (61)        (84)
                                             ----------  ----------  ----------
Income less administrative expenses per         5,899       5,778      10,506
Cash Flow Statement                          ==========  ==========  ==========



(b) Analysis of changes in net debt
                         At the start       Cash      Other         At the end 
                        of the period      Flows    Charges      of the period
                                £'000      £'000      £'000              £'000
Cash                           34,528     (6,433)         -             28,095
8% Debenture Stock            (89,767)         -        254            (89,513)
2022                         ----------  ---------  ---------         ----------
                              (55,239)    (6,433)       254            (61,418)
                             ==========  =========  =========         ==========



Notes:

(1) The financial information contained within this Preliminary Announcement
does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in Section 240 of the
Companies Act 1985. The results for the year to 31st December 2002 and the
position as at that date are an abridged version of the full accounts for that
year which received an unqualified audit report and did not contain a statement
under sections 237(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985 and which have been filed
with the Registrar of Companies.

(2) The accounting policies applied in preparing these accounts are consistent
with those applied in the latest published annual accounts.

(3) The terms of the interim report and the preliminary announcement were
approved by the Board on 31st July 2003.



31st July 2003.






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