Final Results

Scottish Oriental Smlr Co Tst PLC
18 October 2001


              THE SCOTTISH ORIENTAL SMALLER COMPANIES TRUST PLC

           Preliminary Results for the year ended 31st August 2001

                    (Extracted from the Audited Accounts)

The Board of The Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust PLC is pleased to
announce the results for the year ended 31st August 2001.

These results are presented in a format which summarises the information which
will be given in the forthcoming Annual Report and Accounts.

Summary Statement of Total Return for the year ended 31st August 2001

                                                     2001          2000

                                                    £'000         £'000

                                                    
        Dividends                                   1,323         1,144
                                                    
        Other income                                64            36

                                                    1,387         1,180
                                                    
        Expenses                                    (476)         (499)
                                                    
        Income before tax                           911           681

        Tax                                         (257)         (183)
                                                    
        Income attributable to shareholders         654           498
                                                    
        Dividend                                    (461)         (329)
                                                    
        Transferred to Revenue Reserve              193           169


        Return attributable to shareholders:


        Income                                      654           498

        Capital                                    (270)          3,446

        Total                                       384           3,944

        Income return per share - undiluted         2.56p         1.96p

        Capital return per share - undiluted       (1.06)p        13.53p

        Total return per share - undiluted (note 1) 1.50p         15.49p

        Dividend per share (net)                    1.81p         1.29p


Summary Balance Sheet as at 31st August 2001

                                              2001                 2000

                                        £'000      £'000      £'000      £'000

        Total investments                         28,146                30,252


        Debtors                         204                   245

        Cash                            3,473                 1,502

        Creditors                       (675)                 (460)

        Net current assets                        3,002                 1,287

                                                  31,148                31,539

        Foreign currency yen loan                 (2,897)               (3,222)

        Provision for deferred tax                (54)                  (43)

        Shareholders' funds                       28,197                28,274

        Net asset value per share -               110.72p               111.03p
        undiluted

        Net asset value per share -               112.55p               114.96p
        fully diluted


Summary Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 31st August 2001
                                                                   2001   2000

                                                                  £'000  £'000

Net cash inflow from operating activities                         921    692
Interest paid on borrowings                                       (47)   (62)
Taxation                                                          (85)   (115)
Net cash inflow from capital expenditure and financial investment 1,511  264
Equity dividend paid                                              (329)  (216)
Increase in cash                                                  1,971  563

Reconciliation of Total Income to Net cash inflow from operating activities

                                                              2001     2000

                                                              £'000    £'000

Income                                                       1,387    1,180
Administration expenses                                      (423)    (443)
Increase in debtors                                          (45)     (34)
Increase / (decrease) in creditors                           2        (11)
Net cash inflow from operating activities                    921      692

BOARD STATEMENT


Investment Performance


The decline in Asian stockmarkets over the period largely reflected concerns
over the impact of a slowdown in global economic growth. Earnings forecasts
throughout the Region have been reduced accordingly. Smaller companies
generally outperformed their larger counterparts, owing to inexpensive
valuations and low exposure to the technology, media and telecommunication
(TMT) sectors, which continued to fall out of favour. Scottish Oriental's
satisfactory performance relative to its peer group and benchmark is
attributed to both successful stock selection and its overweight position in
Thailand as well as China-focused companies listed in Hong Kong.


Scottish Oriental's undiluted net asset value fell 0.3 per cent to 110.72p
over the twelve-month period. This compares with sterling-adjusted declines of
26.1 per cent in the SG Asian Smaller Companies Index (the Trust's benchmark)
and 32.2 per cent in the MSCI AC Asia Free (ex Japan) Index respectively. The
FTSE All-Share Index fell 19.3 per cent in the year ending 31st August 2001.


For those investors who acquired their holdings at the Trust's inception in
late March 1995, it is reassuring to note that the market value of the
original package (one share and one-fifth of a warrant) rose 9.7 per cent to
98.00p at the end of the financial year.

The appreciation of the share price over the period has been reassuring,
resulting in a narrowing of the discount to net asset value over the period.

Gearing

Scottish Oriental's borrowings of £2.9m in yen, represents approximately 10.3
per cent of net assets at 31st August 2001 (2000: 11.4 per cent). This
borrowing continues to give the Trust greater flexibility.

Summary Data at 31st August 2001

Shares in issue         25,466,250 Shareholders' Funds                 £ 28.20m
                                                                         
Warrants in issue        4,747,400 Market Capitalisation               £ 23.43m

Net Asset Value per
share
(undiluted)                110.72p Warrant Price                         30.00p
Share Price                 92.00p Package Price                         98.00p
                                   Package equates to one share and
                                   one-fifth of a warrant

Share Price Discount to            Package Price Discount to Net Asset
Net Asset
Value (undiluted)            16.9% Value (undiluted)                      11.5%

Performance for the year ended 31st August 2001

Net Asset Value (undiluted)    -0.3% SG Asian (ex Japan)
                                     Smaller Companies Index (£)        -26.1%
Share Price                    +8.9% MSCI AC Asia Free (ex Japan)
Warrant Price                 +23.7% Index (£)                          -32.2%
Package Price                  +9.7% FTSE All-Share Index               -19.3%


Outlook


The recent World Trade Centre atrocity has resulted in unprecedented
volatility in stockmarkets worldwide. Short term prospects for Asian
stockmarkets remain uncertain in the face of a very difficult global outlook.

With its premium quality portfolio and a closed end structure particularly
suited to smaller company investment, Scottish Oriental is ideally positioned
to take advantage of the excellent investment opportunities currently
available amongst Asian smaller companies.

Dividend

A final dividend of 1.81p per share (equivalent to 2.01p per share gross) for
the year ended 31st August 2001 is recommended to be paid on 21st January 2002
to shareholders registered on 21st December 2001. Although increased by 40.3
per cent, this figure is nevertheless well-covered by the Trust's per share
income return for the period. The Directors would remind shareholders that the
principal objective of the Trust is capital growth and the dividend could
consequently fluctuate from year to year.

Notes:

 1. The Directors do not believe that the fully diluted return figures for 2000
    or 2001, if calculated in accordance with FRS14, are an appropriate
    indication of the effects of dilution. Given the relationship between the
    share, warrant and warrant exercise prices, it is unreasonable to assume
    that any holders would exercise their warrants. For this reason, the
    fully-diluted returns have been omitted from the Statement of Total Return.

(2) The preliminary statement is not the Company's statutory accounts. The
statutory accounts for the year ended 31st August 2000 have been delivered to
the Registrar of Companies and contained an audit report which was unqualified
and did not contain statements under Section 237(2) or (3) of the Companies Act
1985.

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

(4) The terms of the Preliminary Announcement were approved by the Board on
18th October 2001.

Enquiries:    Susie Rippingall

              CMG First State Investments, Singapore 0065 580 1431

              or

              Sara Dennehy

              First State Investments, London 0207 332 6500


18th October 2001