Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK SMALLER COMPANIES TRUST PLC

All information is at 31 OCTOBER 2012 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*               2.5%     9.5%     15.2%      73.9%     30.0%
Share price*                   2.9%     9.6%     16.9%      86.9%     34.4%
Numis ex Inv Companies + AIM*  1.6%     8.4%     11.2%      29.3%     -9.8%

Sources:  BlackRock and Datastream

At month end
Net asset value Capital only (debt at par value):     623.44p
Net asset value Capital only (debt at fair value):    619.26p
Net asset value incl. Income (debt at par value)**:   631.98p
Net asset value incl. Income (debt at fair value)**:  627.80p
Share price:                                          529.00p
Discount to Cum Income NAV (debt at par value):         16.3%
Discount to Cum Income NAV (debt at fair value):        15.7%
Net yield:                                               1.6%
Total assets^:                                        £332.0m
Net gearing incl. Income (debt at fair value):          10.6%
2012 Total Expense Ratio ("TER")^^:                      0.7%
Ordinary shares in issue#:                         47,879,792

*performance calculations based on a capital only NAV with debt at par, without
income reinvested. Share price performance calculations exclude income
reinvestment.
**includes net revenue of 8.54p
^includes current year revenue
^^As reported in the Annual Financial Statements for the year ended
29 February 2012, the TER is calculated as a percentage of net assets and using
operating expenses, excluding performance fees, finance costs and taxation.
#excludes 2,113,731 shares held in treasury

Ten Largest Sector
Weightings                         % of total assets

Support Services                                10.0
Software & Computer Services                     9.0
Oil & Gas Producers                              7.2
Electronic & Electrical Equipment                6.5
Financial Services                               6.3
General Retailers                                6.3
Media                                            5.5
Chemicals                                        5.5
Travel & Leisure                                 5.3      
Industrial Metals & Mining                       5.2
                                                ----
Total                                           66.8
                                                ====

Ten Largest Equity Investments (in alphabetical order)
Company

Ashtead
Aveva Group
AZ Electronic Materials
Bellway
Booker Group
Howden Joinery
Oxford Instruments
Senior
Victrex
Workspace
 
Commenting on the markets, Mike Prentis, representing the Investment Manager
noted:

During October the Company's NAV per share increased by 2.5% on a capital only
basis whilst the benchmark index increased by 1.6%. The FTSE 100 increased by
0.7%.

Stock selection and the contribution from gearing were both positive for the
month. Sector allocation was slightly negative with the Company's significant
overweight position in electronics companies and slight underweight position in
retailers both hindering relative performance.

Positive contributions to performance came from portfolio holdings in Howden
Joinery, Ashtead, Blinkx and Workspace. We had good meetings with management of
a number of holdings, including Booker, Bellway, Workspace, Keller, Gemfields,
Amerisur Resources, Devro and Corin.

On the negative side, the Company's holdings in Fidessa, Elementis, Senior and
ITE Group all produced slight underperformance, but none fell by more than 10%
in absolute terms. We continue to have a positive outlook on the long term
prospects for these companies.

We added holdings in Paragon, James Fisher and Ted Baker.Paragon is a
specialist buy-to-let mortgage lender, with a focus on professional landlords. 
James Fisher has developed operational expertise in the marine environment,
providing products, services and support to the oil and gas, marine renewables,
shipping and defence industries. Ted Baker offers menswear, womenswear and
accessories from stores in the UK, USA and Far East. Each of these companies
has had considerable success in recent years, and we believe they remain well
positioned in their respective sectors.

We sold a number of small holdings where we saw limited near term upside.

20 November 2012

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/brscon 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.