Performance at Month End

Merrill Lynch UK Inv Tst PLC
15 May 2002


MONTHLY PERFORMANCE
MERRILL LYNCH UK INVESTMENT TRUST plc
All information is at 30 April 2002 and unaudited.

Performance at month end with net income reinvested

                                        One              Three               One              Three               Five
                                      month             months              year              years              years

Net asset value                       -3.6%              -0.5%            -20.8%             -27.6%               7.7%

Share price                           -3.7%              -5.7%            -26.1%             -34.8%              -2.0%

FTSE All-Share Index                  -1.6%               1.7%            -10.1%             -10.8%              33.7%

 Sources: Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, Standard & Poor's Micropal

At month end

Net asset value*                                                             878.97p

Share price:                                                                 745.00p

Discount:                                                                      15.2%

Total assets:                                                                £156.8m

Net Yield:                                                                      4.0%

Gearing:                                                                       33.7%

Effective gearing:                                                             17.7%

Value of debt:                                                                £39.5m

Ordinary shares in issue:                                                 13,493,799


*Includes current year net revenue of 10.14p.

UK Sectors                                                                       % Total Assets

Financials                                                                                26.4

Non-Cyclical Consumer Goods                                                               16.9

Cyclical Services                                                                         16.3

Resources                                                                                 12.4

Non-Cyclical Services                                                                      8.2

Basic Industries                                                                           2.4

General Industrials                                                                        2.3

Information Technology                                                                     1.8

Utilities                                                                                  1.3

Cash                                                                                      12.8

Net current liabilities                                                                   (0.8)

Total                                                                                    100.0


Ten Largest Equity Investments

Company
                                                                                  % Investments

BP Amoco                                                                                    8.8

Barclays                                                                                    5.5

HSBC                                                                                        5.3

HBOS                                                                                        5.2

AstraZeneca                                                                                 5.2

GlaxoSmithKline                                                                             5.2

Royal Bank of Scotland                                                                      4.6

Vodafone                                                                                    4.5

Diageo                                                                                      3.6

Amersham                                                                                    3.2

Total                                                                                      51.1



Market commentary

UK Stockmarket Review

UK equities retreated over the period, with the All-Share Index down 1.6%. The
UK stockmarket received little help from US markets, as strong US GDP data was
overshadowed by weakening industrial confidence and poor corporate newsflow.
Domestic economic data provided little excitement - GDP in the first quarter
rose only 0.1% quarter on quarter. At the sector level, Telecoms shares weighed
greatest on the market, with Mobile shares being sold as investors continued to
question the growth dynamics and profitability of the industry. As concerns over
the health of the global economic recovery and corporate profitability
resurfaced, defensives outperformed the more economically sensitive sectors.

Fund Performance Review

The Company's Net Asset Value (NAV) fell 3.6% during April, underperforming the
FTSE All Share Index, which fell 1.6%.

We suffered from our overweight position in mmO2, which fell as UK Telecoms
shares were hit by profit warnings from their US counterparts. Our choice of
shares in Pharmaceuticals was also negative, as Amersham and AstraZeneca both
disappointed. Amersham fell after first quarter sales were dragged down by
evidence of one-off pricing pressure in the Japanese diagnostics market, while
AstraZeneca was forced by US regulators to delay the launch of Crestor, a key
cholesterol lowering drug.

These events were offset by strong performance in Financials, where our holdings
in Barclays and HBOS performed strongly. Our avoidance of selected cyclical
shares including Cable & Wireless and WPP was also beneficial, as investors
favoured defensive issues.

Outlook

Recent weak headline growth belies starkly divergent trends within the UK
economy. A strong service sector remains underpinned by low interest rates and a
buoyant housing market. This contrasts with a very weak manufacturing sector.
Interest rates are very low even for this stage in the cycle, and while the
broader inflation numbers are subdued, service sector inflation appears to be
more problematic. This implies that the Bank of England will respond quickly to
signs of recovery in the economy. Whilst some sectoral themes may emerge, we
intend to maintain our focus on strong stock ideas where we believe the
stockmarket has underestimated a company's prospects.

Latest information is available by typing www.mlim.co.uk/its on the internet,
'MLIMINDEX' on Reuters, 'MLIM' on Bloomberg or '8800' on Topic 3 (ICV terminal).

15 May 2002



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange