Rejection of Offer

Securities Trust of Scotland PLC
08 March 2005


NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES,
CANADA, AUSTRALIA OR JAPAN.

Securities Trust of Scotland plc

Rejection of Offer

The Board of Securities Trust of Scotland plc ('Securities Trust') has
considered the terms of an unsolicited offer (the 'Offer') announced by Intelli
Corporate Finance Limited on behalf of Perpetual Income and Growth Investment
Trust plc ('PIGIT') at a small premium to the share price at announcement and a
substantial discount to net asset value.

The Board recently took measures to improve shareholder returns with the
repayment of a significant portion of debt and the implementation of an enhanced
investment strategy.  Early results of the changed strategy are encouraging and,
following the repayment of debt on 3 December 2004, the net asset value of
Securities Trust has outperformed both PIGIT and the FTSE All-Share (all data as
at 4 March 2005; source: Datastream).

The Board has considered the Offer and believes that:
     
•    the Offer is opportunistic and  does not offer best value for shareholders;
     
•    accepting the PIGIT offer would result in a decrease in the level of gross 
     income available to shareholders, which PIGIT has estimated as a 20-31%
     cut; and

•    the Offer translates to a small premium of only 2.3% relative to Securities 
     Trust's share price on 2 March 2005, whilst the limited and partial cash 
     component of the Offer translates to a premium of 4.8%. These premia 
     largely arise from a dividend of 2.55p per share that Securities Trust has
     indicated it will be paying in any event.

The Board is reviewing its options with the aim of delivering best value for all
shareholders and will make a further announcement after PIGIT has published its
formal offer document.  Accordingly the Board strongly advises shareholders to
take no action at this time.


Enquiries:

Neil Donaldson

Chairman designate, Securities Trust of Scotland plc               0131 229 5252

Angus Gordon Lennox / Julian Cazalet

JPMorgan Cazenove Limited                                          020 7588 2828

Kirstie Hamilton / Kate Inverarity

Tulchan Communications                                             020 7353 4200

Willie Watt / Mike Woodward

Martin Currie Investment Management Limited                        0131 229 5252


JPMorgan Cazenove Limited is acting for Securities Trust in relation to the
matters referred to in this announcement and no one else and will not be
responsible to anyone other than Securities Trust for providing the protections
offered to clients of JPMorgan Cazenove Limited nor for providing advice in
relation to the matters referred to in this announcement.

The Directors of Securities Trust accept responsibility for the information
contained in this document. To the best of their knowledge and belief (having
taken all reasonable care to ensure that such is the case) the information
contained in this document is in accordance with the facts and does not omit
anything likely to affect the import of such information.


END


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