Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK SMALLER COMPANIES TRUST plc All information is at 31 October 2009 and unaudited. Performance at month end is calculated on a capital only basis One Three One Three Five Month Months Year Years Years Net asset value 0.3% 19.5% 45.2% -7.9% 54.3% Share price -0.4% 20.4% 51.3% -16.3% 45.1% HGSC ex Inv Trust + AIM* -1.3% 15.3% 46.8% -25.2% 1.8% Sources: BlackRock and Datastream *With effect from 1 September 2007 the Hoare Govett Smaller Companies plus AIM (ex Investment Companies) Index replaced the FTSE SmallCap Index (ex Investment Companies) as the Company's benchmark. For three year and five year periods the above index has been blended to reflect this. At month end Net asset value Capital only (debt at par value): 358.46p Net asset value Capital only (debt at fair value): 354.21p Net asset value incl. Income (debt at par value): 361.96p** Net asset value incl. Income (debt at fair value): 357.71p** Share price: 283.00p Discount to Capital only NAV (debt at par value): 21.1% Discount to Capital only NAV (debt at fair value): 20.1% Net yield: 1.8% Total assets: £195.3m^ Gearing incl. Income: 11.7% Ordinary shares in issue: 48,194,792^^ **includes net revenue of 3.50p. ^includes current year revenue. ^^excludes 1,798,731 shares held in treasury. Ten Largest Sector Weightings % of Total Assets Software & Computer Services 10.3 Financial Services 10.0 Industrial Metals & Mining 8.6 Oil & Gas Producers 8.4 Support Services 6.9 Technology Hardware & Equipment 6.0 Industrial Engineering 4.8 Electronic & Electrical Equipment 4.4 Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 4.4 Media 4.1 ---- Total 67.9 ==== Ten Largest Equity Investments (in alphabetical order) Company Abcam Group Aveva Group BATM Advanced Communications Brewin Dolphin Holdings City of London Investment Group Dechra Pharmaceuticals Domino Printing Sciences Fidessa group Rathbone Brothers Rensburg Sheppards Commenting on the markets, Mike Prentis, representing the Investment Manager noted: October was a good month in relative terms with the NAV increasing by 0.3% on a capital only basis, whilst the benchmark fell by 1.3%. The FTSE 100 Index fell by 1.7%. The main contributor to relative outperformance was our holding in BATM Advanced Communications. BATM shares performed well as analyst coverage increased ahead of interim results. BATM is well placed to benefit from the rapid increase in telecoms data traffic, largely driven by the increased use of smartphones. It also has an interesting medical technologies division where sales are developing well. Relative performance was good both in terms of stock selection and sector allocation. Our large underweight sector position in travel & leisure proved very beneficial, as investors sold pub companies and other domestically dependent companies. No individual shares had a material negative impact on relative performance during the month. We sold holdings in Game Group, HMV Group, Dana Petroleum and Heritage Oil. We remain cautious on the outlook for the UK economy. Game and HMV are attractively valued retailers facing weak comparable trading periods, but we expect 2010 trading to be more challenging and believe investors will look forward to this rather than react to likely positive year end trading statements. Dana and Heritage are not our highest conviction oil producers, nor are their valuations compelling at present. We bought holdings in Spectris, Headlam and Highland Gold. Spectris is an international capital goods company which has cut costs aggressively. We think trading is beginning to stabilise and expect the company to do well over the medium term. Headlam dominates the distribution of carpets to the UK independent retailer sector. It is cautiously run but operationally geared. We suspect trading is also stabilising and that Headlam should do well as housing transactions recover. Highland Gold is a gold producer with an erratic historic record. However, latest results show encouraging trends in production and decreasing cash costs. New projects are due to come on stream shortly, boosting production further at a time of high gold prices. It also has a very cash rich balance sheet. Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/its on the internet, "BLRKINDEX" on Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICV terminal). 19 November 2009
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