Monthly Update

British Empire Sec & Gen Tst PLC
11 September 2007

BRITISH EMPIRE SECURITIES AND GENERAL TRUST PLC



Performance Commentary

This investment management report relates to performance figures as at 31 August
2007.

Over the month NAV was down 2.6%1.  This compares to a decrease in the benchmark
of 1.1%2, an increase of 0.7%1 for the MSCI World (£) and a decrease of 0.3%1
for the FTSE All Share indices.

Financial* year to date, net asset value rose 12.9%1 compared to a rise of
11.8%2 for the Datastream index, 7.5%1 for the MSCI World (£) and 10.1%1 for the
FTSE All Share.

Over three years NAV is up 90.0%1 while the FTSE All Share is up 62.0%1.



Manager's Comment

Markets fell strongly during the first half of the month only to rally into
month's end and recoup most of their losses.  Discounts on our universe of
stocks widened, which hurt our monthly performance but gave us the opportunity
to add to our favoured positions.

We had been waiting for market weakness to buy back into the market and we
reduced our net cash from 14% to 7% over the month.




Statistics





                            Value       % 1 mo    % 1 yr     % 3 yr     %5 yr

Price (£)1                  461.8        -2.4      3.5        96.3       178.2

Net Asset Value1            483.8        -2.6     13.5        90.0       156.0

Net Asset Value Total Return1            -2.6     14.9        95.4       167.8

Benchmark2 (£)                           -1.1     14.4        66.9        90.8





Annual Returns (%)    2006        2005      2004       2003       2002

Price1                0.3          51.7     36.0       41.6      -12.2

MSCI World1           5.8          23.0      7.2       20.6      -27.4

1 Source: Fundamental Data

2 Datastream Global Growth Investment Trust Index(TR) Source: Thomson Financial





Top 10 Equity Holdings                                        %

Investor AB                                                  3.96

Sofina                                                       3.30

Paris Orleans                                                3.25

Jardine Strategic                                            2.89

Electra Private Equity                                       2.70

GBL                                                          2.67

Jardine Matheson                                             2.63

Lundbergforetagen                                            2.41

Hang Lung                                                    2.30

Metro                                                        2.25



Capital Structure



Ordinary Shares                                       160,080,089

10 3/8% Debenture stock 2011                          £8,514,940

8 1/8% Debenture stock 2023                           £14,875,319

Equities index unsecured loan stock 2013**            2,837,000

** Updated annually





Gross Assets/Gearing



Gross Assets                                                     £813 mil.

Debt                                                             £ 29.0 mil.

Actual Gearing (Debt less cash divided by net asset value)        -6.8%





Fund Codes



Bloomberg                                        Reuters Ticker/ ISIN

BTEM                                                  GB0001335081





Geographical Breakdown



Continental Europe                                    30.6%

Japan                                                 12.0%

Canada / US                                           14.5%

Asia Pacific                                          14.4%

UK                                                    18.3%

Liquidity                                             10.2%

EMEA                                                   0.0%



All figures as at 31 August 2007 unless otherwise stated.  All sources Asset
Value Investors Ltd 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                   CD