9 Months Results

SHIRES SMALLER COMPANIES PLC
21 October 1999


INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE NINE MONTHS ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 1999
(UNAUDITED)


STATEMENT OF TOTAL RETURN
(incorporating the Revenue Account)
for the nine months ended 30 September 1999

                           Nine months to 30      Nine months to 30
                            September 1999          September 1998
                              (unaudited)            (unaudited)
                         Revenue  Capital  Total  Revenue  Capital Total
                         
                          £000     £000    £000    £000     £000    £000
                                                                
Gains/(Losses) on           -     9,164    9,164     -     (2,938) (2,938)
investments                              
Dividends  and  interest 2,113        -    2,113   1,700        -   1,700
receivable (note1)                        
Foreign income dividends    70        -       70     100        -     100
Underwriting commission     17        -       17      28        -      28
Investment    management  (159)    (159)    (318)   (164)    (164)   (328)
fee                                       
Other     administrative  (135)       -     (135)   (158)       -    (158)
expenses                                  
                         ______  ______   ____  ______  ______  _____
                                                                    
NET RETURN BEFORE                                               
FINANCE   COSTS AND      1,906    9,005   10,911   1,506   (3,102) (1,596)
TAXATION                                  
                                                                
Finance costs of           388      388      776     381      381     762
borrowings
                         ______  ______   ____  ______  ______  _____
                                                                
RETURN ON ORDINARY                                              
ACTIVITIES     BEFORE    1,518   8,617    10,135   1,125   (3,483) (2,358)
TAXATION                                 
                                                                
Taxation (note2)           218      -        218     323        -     323
                         ______  ______   ____  ______  ______  _____
                                                                
RETURN ON ORDINARY                                              
ACTIVITIES     AFTER     1,300  8,617      9,917     802   (3,483) (2,681)
TAXATION FOR THE  PERIOD  
                                                                
Dividends on equity        855     -         855     823        -     823
shares
                         ______  ______   ____  ______  ______  _____

TRANSFER TO/(FROM)         445  8,617       9,062    (21)  (3,483) (3,504)
RESERVES                                  
                         ______  ______   ____  ______  ______  _____
                                                                
RETURN PER SHARE                                                
- undiluted              6.62p  43.85p     50.47  4.10p  (17.79)p  (13.69)p
                                         
-fully diluted (note 3)  6.29p  41.70p     47.99  3.83p   (16.63)p (12.80)p
(note 3)                                 
                                                                
DIVIDENDS PER SHARE      4.35p                    4.20p           
                                                                
                                          


INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE NINE MONTHS ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 1999
(UNAUDITED)


Distribution of Assets


                                                  
                         30 September 1999   31 December 1998
                             (unaudited)        (audited)
                            £000      %       £000      %
                                                     
Ordinary shares           51,186   118.0    41,371   118.7
Convertibles               4,808    11.1     5,666    16.2
                          ______   ______   ______   ______
                          55,994   129.1    47,037   134.9
                                                     
Net current liabilities   (2,655)  (6.1)    (2,209)  (6.3)
                          ______   ______   ______   ______
TOTAL ASSETS (less        53,339   123.0    44,828   128.6
current liabilities)
                                                     
Long term loan            (9,966)  (23.0)   (9,962)  (28.6)
                          ______   ______   ______   ______
NET ASSETS                43,373   100.0    34,866   100.0
                          ______   ______   ______   ______
                                                     
NET ASSET VALUE PER                                  
SHARE                     220.7p            177.5p
- undiluted
- fully diluted           208.4p            166.9p   


Notes

1.   Dividends and interest receivable include special
  dividends totalling £541,000 (1998 - £54,000).

2.   The tax charge comprises tax credits of 20% of the gross
  amount of dividends receivable before 5 April 1999 and 10% of
  gross dividends receivable after that date.

3.   The fully diluted returns per share have been calculated
  in accordance with the new Financial Reporting Standard 14
  'Earnings per Share'.  Comparative figures for 1998 have been
  restated.
  
4.   The information relating to the assets as at 31 December
  1998 is an extract from the latest audited accounts which have
  been delivered to the Registrar of Companies; the report of
  the auditors on these accounts was unqualified.
  
5.   As at 30 September 1999, there were 19,653,121 ordinary
  shares and 2,233,417 warrants in issue.


Comments

In the UK the share prices of smaller companies maintained the
recovery which began after the setback in the third quarter of
1998 and continued to recoup the underperformance relative to
larger capitalisation stocks which began in the second quarter
of 1997.  In the third quarter the total return on the FTSE
SmallCap Index was 1.7%, bringing the return on that index for
the first nine months of 1999 to 32.2% which was well above
the 7.9% return on the FTSE All-Share Index.

The total return on the Company's fully diluted net assets,
including net dividends reinvested, was 4.8% in the third
quarter of 1999, bringing the total return for the first three
quarters of the year to 27.5%.  The underperformance relative
to the small capitalisation index in the first half of the
year, due to the portfolio's lower exposure to cyclical basic
industry and resource stocks, began to be recovered in the
third quarter.

The Board has declared a third interim dividend of 1.45p in
respect of the year to 31 December 1999, payable on 30
December 1999 to shareholders on the register at close of
business on 10 December 1999.  This brings the total dividends
paid and declared for 1999 to 4.35p per share which compares
with a total of 4.2p per share for the corresponding period in
1998.


For further information please contact:

David Williams, Managing Director
Glasgow Investment Managers                       0141 572 2700