Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK LATIN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
All information is at 30 April 2016 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
	One			Three		One		Three				Five	^^Since
	month			months		year		years				years	31.03.06
	%			%		%		%				%	%
Sterling:
Net asset value^	4.7			24.7		-7.7		-30.0				-38.6	37.5
Share price	5.4			32.2		-8.7		-30.6				-41.8	28.9
MSCI EM Latin America	4.0			28.2		-8.2		-29.5				-34.0	48.7
US Dollars:
Net asset value^	6.7			28.2		-12.4		-34.4				-46.2	15.8
Share price	7.4			35.8		-13.5		-35.0				-49.1	8.4
MSCI EM Latin America	6.0			32.4		-12.4		-33.7				-42.0	25.6
^cum income ^^Date which BlackRock took over the investment management of the Company. Sources: BlackRock, Standard & Poor’s Micropal
At month end
Net asset value – capital only:									376.68p
Net asset value – cum income:									381.00p
Share price:									334.00p
Total Assets#:									£150.6m
Discount (share price to cum income NAV):									12.3%
Average discount* over the month – cum income:									12.6%
Net gearing at month end**:									1.2%
Gearing range (as a % of net assets):									0-25%
Net yield##:									4.1%
Ordinary shares in issue***:									39,369,620
Ongoing charges****:									1.1%
#Total assets include current year revenue. ## calculated using total dividends declared in the last 12 months as at the date of this announcement as a percentage of month end share price. *The discount is calculated using the cum income NAV (expressed in sterling terms). **Net cash/net gearing is calculated using debt at par, less cash and cash equivalents and fixed interest investments as a percentage of net assets. ***Excluding 2,071,662 shares held in treasury. **** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding performance fees and interest costs for the year ended 31 December 2015.
Geographic Exposure
		% of Total Assets			% of Equity Portfolio *						MSCI EM Latin American Index
Brazil		53.2			52.8						51.8
Mexico		35.3			35.0						32.1
Peru		5.8			5.7						3.2
Chile		2.7			2.7						9.3
Argentina		2.3			2.3						0.0
Colombia		1.5			1.5						3.6
Net current liabilities (inc.Fixed interest)		-0.8			0.0						0.0
		-----			-----						-----
Total		100.0			100.0						100.0
		-----			-----						-----
Sector			% of Equity Portfolio *				% of Benchmark
Materials			14.0				13.5
Consumer Discretionary			5.5				6.7
Consumer Staples			22.4				20.8
Financials			31.7				30.5
Health Care			0.4				0.3
Industrials			7.2				6.6
Information Technology			3.7				2.3
Energy			7.2				7.6
Telecommunication Services			4.8				5.9
Utilities			3.1				5.8
			-----				-----
Total			100.0				100.0
			-----				-----

*excluding net current assets & fixed interest

Ten Largest Equity Investments (in percentage order)
Company	Country of Risk	% of Equity Portfolio		% of Benchmark
Itau Unibanco	Brazil	7.7		5.7
AmBev	Brazil	6.7		5.2
Banco Bradesco	Brazil	5.9		5.4
Femsa	Mexico	4.8		3.4
Petrobas	Brazil	4.4		4.5
Cemex	Mexico	4.3		2.0
Grupo Financiero Banorte	Mexico	3.8		2.8
Cielo	Brazil	3.7		1.9
Walmart de Mexico	Mexico	3.4		2.6
Grupo Mexico	Mexico	3.1		1.9
Commenting on the markets, Will Landers, representing the Investment Manager noted; Performance For the month of April 2016, the Company’s NAV rose by 4.7% and the share price rose by 5.4%, whilst the Company’s benchmark, the MSCI EM Latin America Free Index, returned 4.0% (all in sterling terms).  Positive contributions to performance stemmed primarily from our positioning in Mexico and Peru as well as a lower than index weighting in Chile.  A lower than benchmark weighting to America Movil was the largest contributor to performance as the stock suffered after reporting weak results due to increased competition.  In Peru, construction company Grana y Montero made a strong move up ahead of the first round of the Presidential elections, which saw two market friendly candidates move into the second round.              Offsetting some of the outperformance was our exposure to Mexico, which suffered as concerns about US economic growth continued to weigh on the country even as news-flow was mostly positive for the month. Cash also weighed on returns.  The largest detractor from performance was our lower than market exposure to Brazilian iron ore miner Vale, which benefited from a recovery in iron ore prices and continued strength in materials stocks.  A lack of exposure to Brazilian steel stock CSN also weighed on returns.                  Transactions/Gearing   During the month we continued to add shares which are more sensitive to market movements.  We increased exposure to Brazil and reduced exposure to Mexico.  In Brazil, we added to financials, especially banks and credit card acquirers via Itau Unibanco, Banco Bradesco and Cielo as well as initiating a position in Banco do Brasil.  In addition, we reduced our underweight to Vale as iron ore prices have been more resilient than we expected and given our expectations of continued strength in materials stocks.  These moves were partially funded by reducing exposure to BRF due to the expectation of weak domestic results and the negative impact of the appreciation of the Real on its exports.  We also reduced exposure to BB Seguridade Participacoes, which reached our price target.  Finally, in Mexico, we reduced exposure  to America Movil given weak first quarter results due to stiff competition in most markets.  Net gearing was approximately 1.2% at the end of April.   Positioning Political headlines continue to be the main driver for short-term market performance in most countries in Latin America.  President Rousseff’s impeachment process moving up from the lower house of Congress to the Senate has boosted expectations of a positive change in economic policy in Brazil.  We continue to monitor changes in Brazil, ensuring that the portfolio is positioned to benefit from expected changes in economic policy, while taking into consideration the expected continued weakness in economic performance for a few more quarters.  We are maintaining an above benchmark exposure to Mexico which has less to do with politics and more to do with a continuation of the gradual domestic recovery.  We remain positive on Peru, with the June 5th presidential election run-off bringing two market-friendly choices to the ballot.  We are less positive on Chile and Colombia, while we have approximately 230 bps invested in Argentina, which is not currently part of the benchmark. 17 May 2016 ENDS Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/brla on the internet, "BLRKINDEX" on Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICV terminal).  Neither the contents of the Manager’s website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Manager’s website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.