Monthly Update

British Empire Sec & Gen Tst PLC
13 May 2005

BRITISH EMPIRE SECURITIES AND GENERAL TRUST PLC

Performance Commentary

This investment management report relates to performance figures as at 30 April
2005.


Over the month NAV was down 2.9%1. This compares to a decrease in the benchmark
of 3.2%2, and a decrease of 3.2%1 and 2.3%1 for the MSCI World (£) and FTSE All
Share indices respectively.


Financial year to date, net asset value rose 14.3%1 compared to a rise of 7.0%2
for the Datastream index, 2.2%1 for the MSCI World (£) and 7.4%1 for the FTSE
All Share.


Over three years NAV is up 48.6%1 while the FTSE All Share is up 5.5%1.

Manager's Comment

Over the month we witnessed some widening of discounts in the investment trust
and investment holding company sector which reinforces our caution and our
belief that it is prudent to have a higher than normal liquidity level.


Discounts are still narrow relative to history and there is a lack of compelling
investment ideas.




Statistics 

                                                                                                     
                                                      Value    % 1 mo    % 1 yr    % 3 yr    % 5 yr  
                     Price (£)1                       308.5     -6.3      25.2      63.4      116.4  
                     Net Asset Value1                 306.4     -2.9      19.9      45.1      65.1   
                     Net Asset Value Total Return1              -2.9      20.7      48.6      71.7   
                     Benchmark2 (£)                             -3.2       8.1       4.3      -12.2  
                     Annual Returns (%)                2004     2003      2002      2001      2000   
                     Price1                            36.0     41.6      -12.2      0.8      26.0   
                     MSCI World1                       7.2      20.6      -27.4     -14.1     -5.8 
  
1 Source: Fundamental Data 
2 Datastream Global Growth Investment Trust Index(TR) Source: Thompson Financial 
3 Benchmark index changed to Datastream Global Growth Investment Trust Index(TR) 
 
Top Ten Equity Holdings                                                   % 

                                                                               
                                           Jardine Strategic              4.39 
                                           Law Debenture                  3.65 
                                           CNP                            2.92 
                                           Eurazeo                        2.90 
                                           Prospect Japan                 2.87 
                                           Hansa Trust                    2.74 
                                           European Asset Value Fund      2.37 
                                           Lundbergforetagen              2.03 
                                           Investor                       2.02 
                                           Paris Orleans                  2.01 
                                           TOTAL                         27.90 
 
 
Capital Structure as at 31 March 2005 
Ordinary Shares                                160,080,089 
10 3/8% Debenture stock 2011                    £8,514,940 
8 1/8% Debenture stock 2023                    £15,000,000 
Equities index unsecured loan stock 2013         2,981,267 

Gross Assets/Gearing as at 31 March 2005 
Gross Assets                                       £529mil 
Debt                                              £30.9mil 
Actual Gearing (Debt less cash dividend by net asset value)     -12.5% 
 
Fund Codes 
Bloomberg                              Reuters Ticker / ISIN 
BTEM                                   GB0001335081 
 
Geographic Breakdown 
Continental Europe                         25.2% 
Japan                                      13.4% 
Canada/US                                   4.2% 
Asia Pacific                               11.8% 
UK                                         18.4% 
Liquidity                                  20.2% 
EMEA                                        6.8% 
 



Further Information

Investment Manager - John Pennink, AVI Ltd.

[phone]

[e-mail]

The share price can be found under 'INVESTMENT COMPANIES' in

The Financial Times, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Scotsman and

The Evening Standard

Information may be found on the following websites.

www.british-empire.co.uk or www.assetvalueinvestors.com



All figures as at 30 April 2005. All sources Asset Value Investor unless
otherwise stated. British Empire Securities Trust is managed by Asset Value
Investors Ltd. The price of shares and the income from them may go down as well
as up; they can be affected by exchange rate movements between currencies and it
is possible that investors may not get back the full amount invested on disposal
of the shares. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance.
Investments in emerging markets carries a greater degree of risk, in particular
the volatility of the markets and the local custody and registration
arrangements, which may be less developed than in more mature markets. There is
no guarantee that the market price of shares in Investment Trusts will fully
reflect their underlying Net Asset Value (NAV). This Investment Trust should be
considered only as part of a balanced portfolio, of which it should not form a
disproportionate part. Under no circumstances should this information be
considered as an offer, or solicitation, to deal in investments. Issued by Asset
Value Investors Ltd., which is authorised and regulated by the Financial
Services Authority.


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