Final Results

THE ALLIANCE TRUST PLC

FINAL RESULTS FOR THE YEAR TO 31 JANUARY 2005

FINANCIAL SUMMARY (Company)

                                31 January  31 January
                                      2005        2004
                                 Pence per   Pence per
                                  ordinary    ordinary
One Year Analysis               stock unit  stock unit        Change

Dividend for the year                71.75        70.5          1.8%
Net asset value                     3216.5      2921.5         10.1%
Stock Price ‡                       2741.0      2605.0          5.2%

Return     Earnings                   75.0        75.4
           Capital                   291.7       531.5
                              ------------ -----------

           Total                     366.7       606.9
                              ____________ ___________


                                31 January  31 January
                                      2005        2004

Discount §                           14.8%       10.8%

Total expense ratio +                0.33%       0.29%

                                    1 year    10 years      10 years
One and Ten Year Analysis         absolute    absolute      compound

Returns
Stock price total return ‡*           8.1%      115.0%          8.0%

Growth
Earnings                            (0.6%)       39.4%          3.4%
Dividend                              1.8%       43.5%          3.7%
Net asset value                      10.1%       70.6%          5.5%


‡   Source:  Thomson Financial Datastream.

§   Discount at which the stock price stands relative to the net
    assets of the Company.

+   Total expenses divided by year end net asset value

*   The total return on the stock price shows the theoretical
    growth in value over one and ten years, assuming that gross
    dividends are fully reinvested, and ignoring re-investment
    charges.


DIVIDEND

Continuing the Company's progressive dividend policy the Board is proposing a
final dividend of 36.25 pence, making a total dividend for the year of 71.75
pence, an increase of 1.25 pence on the previous period.

The directors appreciate that the dividend comprises an important element of the
total return to stockholders.  We invest the Company's capital to generate the
long term returns needed to maintain our progressive dividend policy.  Last year
we undertook a review of investment strategy and determined to realign the
portfolio, reducing exposure to fixed income instruments, which generate high
relative income but offer little prospect of income growth, and reallocating capital
to assets more likely to generate sustainable long term growth of both income
and capital.

We are building a sound base from which to generate continuing income growth.
This will enhance our flexibility to increase future dividend payments.
However, in the short term the portfolio realignment is dampening core recurring earnings
from which current dividends are paid.

The Company's closing net asset value of £32.16 per ordinary stock unit showed a
net increase of 10.1% on the previous year.  The stock price rose only by 5.2%
as a result of a widening of the discount from 10.8% to 14.8% over the period.

Subject to approval by the stockholders the final dividend on the Company's
ordinary stock is payable on Tuesday, 3 May 2005 to stockholders registered on
15 April 2005.  The dividends on the Company's preference stocks are also
payable on 3 May 2005 to stockholders registered on 15 April 2005 and the ex-
dividend date for all stocks is 13 April 2005.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S STATEMENT

During the past year, we have concentrated on creating the conditions that will
allow us to grow and benefit from a range of opportunities. We have invested in
infrastructure, reorganised how we manage our assets, built up our financial
services subsidiary and introduced ways to enhance our performance as
individuals and as a company.

As an investment company, the Alliance Trust has the opportunity to react to
changing circumstances in order to deliver added value to stockholders. We will
draw on this adaptability increasingly as we go forward and seek to use more
fully the options available to us for the benefit of our stockholders.

We are investing in our subsidiary, Alliance Trust Savings, in order to develop
its financial services activities. ATS began as a means to generate wider access
to our stock. This goal has been achieved with more than 17% of the ordinary
stock now held through ATS. This subsidiary has developed into a profitable
business in its own right as an administrator of customers' investment
portfolios and one that, with further investment, has considerable potential to
grow.

We will work to realise that potential to generate income for ATS' parent
companies while still delivering value to its customers. To increase clarity of
purpose, fulfil regulatory demands and meet our business goals, therefore, we
will develop the investment company and the financial services company on two
different, profitable and complementary tracks. We believe this will be in the
long-term interests of stockholders.
I will explore some of these themes in this, my first major report to you.

The Investment Company

The Alliance Trust is an investment company with an extremely flexible
investment policy. The Company invests worldwide across a wide variety of
sectors and this diversity gives it its strength. Last year saw continuing
growth with core income (before special dividends which are unlikely to recur)
increasing by 6.4% to £46.9m. Our net assets grew by £149m, an increase of 10.1%
over last year.

Expenses

The Alliance Trust has always taken a disciplined approach to total expenses and
cost management.

Last year expenses rose by 24.4% to £5.4m bringing our total expense ratio to
0.33%, still among the most favourable in the sector. We believe in investing
for the future. We have to modernise our Company to take full advantage of
current opportunities. We are strengthening compliance, audit and risk
management, which are essential to meet industry best practice in an
increasingly regulated environment. We also need to compete and this means
growing the Company. We are committed to investing in people and building an
infrastructure that meets the highest standards, particularly in information
technology, which will form the backbone of our modernised structure and the
springboard for future expansion.

This does not mean, however, that we are diluting our focus on costs. Even with
increased spending in its last financial year, the Alliance Trust has one of the
lowest total expense ratios among the investment trusts in the global growth
category. We are committed to investing in our own infrastructure so that we are
not left behind by developments and we believe we can position ourselves
strongly to deliver value for stockholders and, at the same time, manage costs
tightly. We aim to grow our Company and stockholder return consistently while
ensuring that our total expense ratio remains in the lowest 25% of our peer
group.

Allocation of Assets

During the past year we reorganised the way we manage the Company's assets
through a new committee called the Asset, Liability and Income Committee
(ALICo).

During the year we also reviewed how we manage the global equity portfolio of
the Company. We concluded that we can enhance our performance with a simple and
transparent geographical approach. We have already started to see the results of
this approach in our home markets. Both the UK Large Cap and UK Small and Mid
Cap portfolios had an outstanding year.

Asian Office

The overall review of our Company also led us to identify other ways we can
enhance performance in each area to which the corporate capital is allocated.

Asia is an exciting region that presents enormous potential for growth in
capital and income and we have been increasing our investments there for some
time. At the end of January we owned assets of £241.5m in the region, 15% of our
total portfolio. In Asia we face cultural, language and time-zone differences
when doing business. Also, many of the companies we invest in now depend
significantly on the Chinese, Japanese and other Asian markets.  Together, these
form a powerful argument for having expertise on the ground to enhance our
performance as these markets expand and mature. In the second quarter of 2005 we
are, therefore, opening an office in Hong Kong and will be deploying staff from
Dundee and locally to look after the relevant parts of the portfolio from that
base.

The Asian markets today bear a striking similarity to those in North America
where, over a hundred years ago, my predecessors took the courageous decision to
invest and ensure that the Company had representatives locally. We are confident
that the benefits we can generate by increases in our capital and income in Asia
will more than compensate for the related expense and believe this initiative is
in line with our overall goal of growing total stockholder return.

Subsidiaries

Last year was a very good year for Group subsidiaries, with an increase in
aggregate net income of 29.1% to £5.8m. ATS had another profitable year with
income rising by 19.8% to £4.9m. Profit before tax, however, fell to £622,000,
down 41.4%, because of increased investment costs. During the year, we made it
simpler for customers to invest through ATS and removed some of the hurdles in
the terms and conditions. Transactions grew notably after we launched the
pricing simplification in July. I would like to take this opportunity to thank
those customers of ATS who wrote to me after July suggesting further
improvements. We noted all comments and in October we announced that customers
would be able to choose variable investment levels within their plans.

We have also started to overhaul the business' solid, but outdated, technology.
When this is completed we will be able to meet more of our customers' needs. For
example, customers will be able to transact almost all their business using any
method they prefer whether online, by post or by telephone. We will also be able
to process orders by value rather than by number of shares. We intend to have
these services available as quickly as possible. We want our systems to match
the superior service already given by ATS staff. That excellence has been
recognised this year in customer service awards from Investors Chronicle. We
will continue to introduce further improvements to our technical capability over
the next two years and because of this in the short term the costs of ATS will
increase. We are very excited about the medium and long term growth prospects
for ATS business and are convinced that the current level of investment will be
more than justified by future returns.

Our People

Our Company's primary resource is our people, with their skills, commitment and
excellence. We are developing a `people plan' that will make us an employer of
choice. We want to provide a world-class environment in which our people can
succeed. A major ingredient for this is an appropriate and modern remuneration
programme. To this end we have introduced a performance based bonus scheme that
is designed to reward those who really add value above demanding targets. An
important point to note is that reward is indeed results based. Under the senior
managers' and executives' incentive plan, if stockholders do not benefit, then
staff do not receive performance awards.

Looking Forward

At the end of a very exciting year for all of us at the Alliance Trust we look
forward to a future in which we will continue to build on the reputation and
excellence of this Company. Next year we will seek to:

·  Enhance the performance of the capital and income accounts

·  Strengthen the way we manage our equity assets through a clearer geographical focus

·  Build a technology platform that helps deliver performance and growth cost-effectively

·  Increase the range and reach of the financial services company to take advantage of
   opportunities in the UK savings market

·  Promote our reputation by maintaining the highest standards in everything we do.


RESULTS

                                     Group               Company
                                2005        2004      2005      2004
Return per Ordinary Stock     76.52p      75.68p    74.98p    75.40p
Unit

Dividend                      71.75p       70.5p    71.75p     70.5p

Net asset value              3216.5p     2921.5p   3216.5p   2921.5p

Revenue Return                  £000        £000      £000      £000

Investment income             45,873      45,164    45,012    44,885
Other income                   9,079       5,886     2,643     1,257
                            --------   ---------  --------  --------

                              54,952      51,050    47,655    46,142
                            --------   ---------  --------  --------

Return before taxation        43,679      42,601    42,220    41,765
Taxation                     (4,759)     (4,103)   (4,335)   (3,669)
                            --------    --------  --------  --------
Return after taxation         38,920      38,498    37,885    38,096
Minority interest - equity     (259)       (260)         -         -
                            --------    --------  --------  --------
                              38,661      38,238    37,885    38,096
Dividends on preference         (97)        (97)      (97)      (97)
stock - non-equity
                            --------    --------  --------  --------
Return attributable to        38,564      38,141    37,788    37,999
equity stockholders
                           ---------    --------  --------  --------

Amount absorbed by          (36,162)    (35,532)  (36,162)  (35,532)
ordinary dividend

Balance Sheet                   £000        £000        £000        £000

Investments at valuation   1,592,236   1,466,843   1,605,213   1,476,118

Net current assets            40,888      18,976      18,081         153
                           ---------   ---------    --------    --------

Total assets less current  1,633,124   1,485,819   1,623,294   1,476,271
liabilities

Long term liabilities          9,830      11,196           -       1,648

Equity stockholders' funds 1,621,094   1,472,423    1,621,094  1,472,423

Net asset value per           £32.16      £29.21       £32.16     £29.21
ordinary stock unit


Cash Flow Statement             £000        £000      £000      £000

Net cash inflow from          55,145      53,769    42,468    41,890
Operating Activities

Dividends from Subsidiary          -           -         -       638
Company

Servicing of finance         (1,701)     (1,462)      (174)     (173)

Taxation paid                (4,873)     (3,827)    (4,382)   (3,492)

Investment purchases       (301,140)   (178,067)  (297,680) (173,515)
settled

Investment sales settled     326,985     127,957   320,985   121,806

Equity dividends paid       (35,784)    (38,052)  (35,784)  (38,052)

Management of liquid        (38,613)      38,120  (25,890)    50,855
resources
                           ---------   ---------  --------  --------

Increase(Decrease) in cash        19     (1,562)     (457)      (43)
                           ---------   ---------  --------  --------


The revenue return statement is the profit and loss account of the Company.

The financial information set out above does not constitute the Company's
statutory accounts for the years ended 31 January 2005 or 2004 but is derived
from those accounts.

Statutory accounts for 2004 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies
and those for 2005 will be delivered following the Company's Annual General
Meeting.  The auditor has reported on those accounts.  The report was
unqualified and did not contain statements under Section 237(2) or (3) of the
Companies Act 1985.

Number of Issued Stock Units

Ordinary Stock Units of 25p               50,400,000
4.25% Cumulative Preference Stock            700,000
4% Cumulative Preference Stock               650,000
5% Cumulative Preference Stock               750,000
4% `A' Cumulative Preference                 100,000
Stock


The Report and Accounts will be posted to stockholders on Tuesday, 29th March
2005 and will be available on the Company's website www.alliancetrusts.com on
30th March 2005.  It will also be made available to the public at the Company's
registered office, Meadow House, 64 Reform Street, Dundee DD1 1TJ and at the
offices of the Company Registrar, Computershare Investor Services PLC, Lochside
House, 7 Lochside Avenue, Edinburgh Park, Edinburgh EH12 9DJ on and after 30th
March 2005.

At the same time as it sends the 2005 Report & Accounts to stockholders, the
Company expects to publish proposals to update the constitution and capital
structure of the Company.

In particular, the Board of The Alliance Trust PLC proposes to put resolutions
to the Annual General Meeting:

·  convert the ordinary stock in the capital of the Company
   into ordinary shares;

·  adopt new objects and new Articles of Association in line
   with modern practice; and

·  cancel and repay, at par, all of the preference stocks (of
   all classes) for the time being in issue in the capital of
   the Company.

·  approve the establishment of a Senior Management Incentive
   Plan and an Employee Benefit Trust.

The proposal to cancel and repay the preference stocks will also be subject to
confirmation by the Court of Session.

Full details of these proposals will be set out in a document expected to be
posted to stockholders, subject to its approval by the UK Listing Authority, on
Tuesday, 29 March 2005.

The Memorandum of the Company dates back to its incorporation in 1888 when it
was a mortgage bank lending money to farmers in Oregon and the Pacific North
West. The Articles of Association of the Company were last substantially brought
up to date in November 1930.

The general updating proposals will, if approved, give the Company a
constitution which is appropriate for a listed public company complying with the
requirements of the UK Listing Authority and reflecting guidance issued by
institutional shareholders. Many of the proposed changes fall into the
housekeeping category, reflecting the time which has elapsed since the
constitution was last updated.  The conversion of ordinary stock into ordinary
shares, if approved, will not affect the interest of any stockholder. New
certificates will not be issued and existing certificates of title will remain
valid. The repayment of the preference stocks, if approved, is consistent with
the modernisation.

The establishment of the Senior Management Incentive Plan and the Employee
Benefit Trust will, if approved, make the Company  compliant with the Combined
Code on Corporate Governance as regards performance related remuneration for
executive directors and, in the opinion of the Board, drive individual
accountability and performance throughout the Group with the objective of
creating value for stockholders.

Questions on this announcement should be addressed to Alan Harden, Chief
Executive or Sheila Ruckley, Corporate Development Director on 01382 201700.
Questions on the Senior Management Incentive Plan and the Employee Benefit Trust
should be addressed to Mrs Lesley Knox, Chairman, on 01382 201700.

The Company's Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday, 29 April 2005 at
10.30 a.m. at Discovery Point, Discovery Quay, Dundee.

In addition to the full annual report, up-to-date performance data, details of
new initiatives and other information about the Company can be found on our
website.

ENDS