Final Results

F&C Latin American Inv Trust PLC
11 March 2005



Date:                11 March 2005


Contact:             Rupert Brandt             Lisa Stanley
                     F&C Emerging Markets      Lansons Communications
                     020 7628 8000             020 7294 3692



                    F&C LATIN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
                   Unaudited Preliminary Statement of Results
                      for the year ended 31 December 2004


HIGHLIGHTS



•         The fully diluted NAV per share produced a total return of 47.5%,
which significantly outperformed the benchmark's 39.6% return. The share price
and the warrant price appreciated 51.7% and 90.2% respectively on a total return
basis. (all in US dollars).



•         For the second year running, Latin America was the best performing
region in both in the emerging market asset class and in the world. Our Company
was the best performing Latin American closed end fund in its peer group over
both years



•         The Company's dividend income has continued to materially increase
over the period and as a result the Board are pleased to declare a second
interim dividend of 3.00 cents per share payable on 29 April 2005.



•         The Company removed the majority of its gearing in December 2004,
ending the period with a 0.9% net debt position. We have since moved to a 5.9%
net cash position.



•         The Board introduced a formal twice yearly tender offer based discount
control mechanism during the period.  As announced on 1 October 2004, the first
tender offer was triggered.



SUMMARY OF RESULTS


                                         31 December 2004        31 December 2003               % Change

Net assets attributable to equity
shareholders                                    US$303.0m               US$219.9m                  +37.8
                                                

Net assets per ordinary share -
basic total return*                                                                                +47.3
                                                                                                   


Net assets per ordinary share -                                                                    +47.5
diluted total return*
Share price - total return                                                                         +51.7


Warrant price                                232.00 cents            122.00 cents                  +90.2


Dividends per share                            5.00 cents              0.56 cents



* Total return figures include income distributed during the year.


Extracts from the Chairman's Statement

I am delighted to report that Latin American stock markets enjoyed another very
robust year in 2004 as the region's economic recovery continued to build
momentum whilst corporate earnings and cash flow grew rapidly. The global
environment was highly supportive to the Latin American region, which benefited
from strong global GDP growth, rapidly increasing commodity prices, low consumer
price inflation across the G7 economies, high levels of global liquidity and a
robust risk appetite. For the second year running, Latin America was the best
performing region in both in the emerging market asset class and in the world.
These conditions helped your Company produce another year of very strong
performance.



Investment performance

The fully diluted, cum income Net Asset Value per share ('fully diluted NAV''),
which shows our investment performance net of the smoothed dilutive impact of
the warrants, gave investors a total return of 47.5% in US dollars over the
year. We are very pleased to report that this was significantly ahead of the
benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Latin America Index, which returned 39.6%.



A narrowing in our discount from 17.1% to 14.8% over the year helped produce a
share price total return of 51.7% in US dollar terms. Our warrants appreciated
by 90.2% over the same period. For the second consecutive year, our fully
diluted NAV, undiluted NAV and share price total returns were the highest
amongst the universe of Latin American closed end funds.



Our undiluted cum income Net Asset Value per share ('undiluted NAV'') produced a
total return of 47.3% in US dollars over the year. This measurement of our NAV
shows the dilutive impact of the warrants only when they are exercised. In 2004,
2,595,470 warrants were exercised in the run up to the tender offer which
reduced the undiluted NAV. This dilution occurred because the share price was
between two to three times the exercise price at the various times that the
warrants were exercised. Had it not been for the exercise of these warrants, our
undiluted NAV would have provided a total return of 49.9%. This figure gives the
clearest guide to our underlying investment performance over the year. The
remaining outstanding warrants expire on 31 July 2005. They are deeply 'in the
money'' and as such, are likely to have a significant dilutive effect in to our
undiluted NAV when they are exercised in 2005.



Since the end of the financial year, we have begun to establish a more defensive
posture to the Company's investment portfolio, as we have become more cautious
about the market outlook. In absolute terms our performance has continued to be
good. From 31 December 2004 to 9 March, the undiluted NAV has risen by 6.8%, the
fully diluted NAV has risen by 6.4% whilst the share price has risen by 12.2%.
The discount has narrowed further to 10.2%. However we have underperformed our
benchmark index's 9.0% appreciation due to our more defensive position. We are
currently planning to maintain a more defensive portfolio and expect this to
deliver strong relative performance over the medium term.



Performance attribution

Positive stock selection in Brazil and Mexico, and the correct use of tactical
gearing were the three main drivers of our outperformance in 2004. Brazilian
stock selection was very strong with our Brazilian portfolio returning 44.9%
compared to the Brazilian index's 36.5% return. Mexican stock selection was even
more successful with our Mexican portfolio appreciating by 61.2% against the
Mexican index's 48.3% return. Tactical gearing continued to add value over the
year as we were on average 12.0% geared in a market that rose by 39.6% over the
year. Whilst we materially outperformed our benchmark, not everything went well.
An overweight position in Brazil, negative stock selection in Peru and mildly
negative stock selection in Chile slightly detracted from overall performance.



Regional review

The Latin American region continued to experience robust economic growth in
2004. Brazil's GDP expanded by 5.2%, Mexico's by 4.4% and Chile's GDP grew by
5.8%. These three core markets make up over 90% of our benchmark index. All
three economies have benefited from high commodity prices and very strong export
growth and all are currently seeing a pick up in domestic consumption which
should fuel another strong year of growth in 2005. Of the main stock markets,
Mexico was the best performer as it confounded its sceptics by mounting a
stronger than expected economic recovery. Brazil produced another year of strong
absolute performance but marginally underperformed the regional index. Chile
continued to register strong absolute gains although not quite as high as those
seen in Mexico and Brazil or in the overall regional benchmark index. Of the
smaller markets, Colombia was the star performer. After being a major laggard in
2003, the Colombian index produced an outstanding return of 133% in US dollars
over the year as its economy experienced a significant recovery, its security
situation improved materially and Alvaro Uribe, Colombia's president, pushed
through the constitutional changes to allow him to stand for a second term in
office. We established a small position in this market during a correction in
the second quarter of 2004 and bought shares in a very well managed bank which
returned 129% over the rest of the year. We were prevented from buying a larger
position due to the very limited liquidity in this market. We have since sold
this position as we felt it had become fully valued.



Prospects and gearing

We have become more defensive in our short to medium term outlook for the region
but remain very bullish over the long term. Economic growth should remain robust
throughout most of the region in 2005 and should continue to be a source of
generally constructive newsflow, providing a positive backdrop for solid
earnings momentum. That said, we believe the risk / reward trade off has
deteriorated. Whilst some of the key Latin equity markets continue to trade at
relatively attractive levels on forecast twelve month forward earnings, these
forecasts have become more optimistic across the region, increasing the risk of
disappointment and reducing the potential for positive surprises. After rising
by 48.3% in 2004, the Mexican stockmarket ended the year trading towards the top
end of its historic twelve month forward price to earnings range. We feel that
this might result in a period of consolidation and don't expect Mexico to break
out of its trading range in this cycle. In Brazil, the stock market remains
attractively valued on paper but the downside risk has risen considerably. The
Brazilian market is vulnerable to a peak in commodity prices and to any
deterioration in the interest rate outlook in the US. We are also concerned that
the region's stockmarkets may experience a correction in the latter part of 2005
and the early part of 2006 due to a rise in political risk related to the
approach of presidential elections in Brazil and Mexico in mid 2006. Since the
end of 2004, we have moved underweight in Brazil, remain at zero weight in
Argentina, are close to neutral in Mexico and have built up an overweight
position in Chile.



As mentioned earlier, our effective gearing averaged 12.0% during 2004. It
started the review period at 12.0%, was reduced to 10.8% in early March and
peaked at 18.7% at the end of June. We removed the majority of our gearing in
December 2004, ending the period with a 0.9% net debt position. We have since
moved to a 5.9% net cash position.



Investment policy and dividends

Latin American companies have continued to become more shareholder oriented and
a robust economic backdrop has resulted in a continued rise in the Company's
dividend receipts. The Company paid a 2.00 cents per share interim dividend on 5
November 2004. The Board has also decided to pay out a further interim dividend
of 3.00 cents per share, payable on 29 April, making a total of 5.00 cents for
the full year. No final dividend is expected to be paid. The Board expects the
Company to continue paying dividends over the medium term and believes that this
should help make us a more attractive investment to our shareholders. We have
changed our accounting procedures to facilitate a larger and more consistent
dividend payout. As we announced in the interim statement, with effect from 1
January 2005, the Company has apportioned 75% of the management fee and finance
costs to the capital account. Barring unforeseen events, this should further
increase our dividend payments.



Discount and discount control mechanisms

The Company's discount at the beginning of 2004 was 17.1%. It fluctuated
throughout the year, reaching a high of just under 20.0% in January 2004 and a
low of just below 5.0% in the height of the correction in Latin American equity
markets in mid May, before ending the year at 14.8%. Since the end of the review
period and at the time of publishing this report, the Company's discount has
fallen to 10.6%. The Company continued to make use of its share repurchase
scheme during the year, repurchasing and cancelling 932,093 shares. As
shareholders will recall, the Board introduced a twice yearly tender offer
scheme with the following characteristics:



Trigger mechanism: a tender offer will be made if there is an average discount
of 13.5% or more to the cum income, fully diluted Net Asset Value per share for
a period of 60 days ending 30 September and 31 March.



Frequency and size: if the above trigger mechanism is met in either of the
calculation periods, there will be a tender offer of up to 7.5% of the then
outstanding issued share capital on each such occasion.



Tender price: the price at which the shares will be acquired will be 95% of the
cum income, fully diluted Net Asset Value per share.



As announced on 1 October 2004, the first tender offer was triggered as the
average discount in the 60 day period was over the 13.5% threshold. A total of
5,656,975 shares were repurchased and cancelled in the tender offer. Following
the tender offer, 69,770,192 ordinary shares and 10,374,850 warrants remain in
issue.



The second calculation period ends on 31 March 2005. An announcement will be
made in early April as to whether the second tender offer was triggered.



Corporate Governance

The new principles and guidelines covered by the revised Combined Code on
Corporate Governance ('Combined Code'') issued by the Financial Reporting
Council in 2003 came into effect for the year ending 31 December 2004. We have
included a full report on corporate governance in the annual report. As
mentioned in last year's annual report, the Board agrees with the rationale for
these developments. The Company currently complies with the Combined Code save
that, in line with most investment trusts, it does not have an internal audit
function. The Board does not believe that length of service necessarily affects
the independence of a non executive director. We subscribe to the view expressed
in the AITC's Code of Corporate Governance regarding the length of Board
members' tenure, that maintenance of an appropriate balance of experience and
skills and the continuing effectiveness of the Board, based on regular review is
a more appropriate criteria than the adoption of an absolute limit of nine
years. Those directors who have served nine years and who the Board feels should
continue in office will, however, be required to seek annual re-election. At the
4 May 2005 Annual General Meeting ('AGM''), Peter Burnell, Fred Packard and
Mailson Ferreira da Nobrega, who have all served the Company for more than nine
years will consequently seek re-election to the Board.



The Board reviews the Manager on an ongoing basis and a formal review happens
once a year. The last formal review was completed on 8 December 2004. The review
process takes many factors into account, including the quality and continuity of
personnel assigned to handle the Company's affairs and the performance that the
Company produces compared to both its benchmark and its peer group. Following
completion of this review and, given the excellent performance of Rupert Brandt
and his team combined with good back up from F&C in the administration of the
Company's affairs, it will not be a surprise that the Board concluded that the
ongoing appointment of the Manager on the current terms was in the best
interests of our shareholders.



Annual General Meeting

The AGM will be held at 12.15 pm on Wednesday, 4 May 2005 at F&C's offices. We
hope that as many shareholders as possible will attend. In this year's AGM, the
Board's requests include the re-election of three directors, the renewal of our
share repurchase facility and the permission to use our tender offer based
Discount Control Mechanism in the 60 day period ending 30 September 2005.
Following the AGM, Rupert Brandt will give a brief presentation reviewing 2004
and discussing the outlook for 2005. After the presentation, shareholders are
invited to join the Board and Managers at a buffet lunch.



Peter Burnell
March 2005





Balance Sheet at 31 December


                                                                               2004                   2003

                                                                           US$'000s               US$'000s
Fixed assets
Investments                                                                 302,685                246,626
Current assets
Debtors                                                                       7,379                  2,305
Taxation recoverable                                                              -                    109
Cash at bank                                                                  8,693                  3,185
                                                                             16,072                  5,599

Current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Bank loans                                                                 (11,250)               (22,250)
Other                                                                       (4,555)                (2,839)
                                                                           (15,805)               (25,089)

Net current assets/(liabilities)                                                267               (19,490)

Total assets less current liabilities                                       302,952                227,136

Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year
Bank loans                                                                        -                (7,250)

Net assets                                                                  302,952                219,886

Capital and Reserves
Called up share capital:
    Including non-equity share capital                                        7,001                  7,400
Share premium account                                                        63,880                 61,544
Capital redemption reserve                                                      972                    313
Warrant reserve                                                               3,484                  4,356
Non-distributable reserve                                                       872                      -
Capital reserves                                                            226,079                146,273
Revenue reserve                                                                 664                      -
Total shareholders' funds                                                   302,952                219,886

Equity interests                                                            302,928                219,862
Non-equity interests                                                             24                     24
Total shareholders' funds                                                   302,952                219,886

Net asset value per ordinary share
Basic - cents                                                                434.18                 298.06
Diluted - cents                                                              390.92                 268.44








Statement of Total Return (incorporating the Revenue Account*)
for the year ended 31 December


                                                                  2004                                   2003
                                     Revenue      Capital        Total      Revenue      Capital        Total
                                    US$'000s     US$'000s     US$'000s     US$'000s     US$'000s     US$'000s


Gains on investments                       -      100,928      100,928            -      101,536      101,536


Exchange losses                         (30)        (960)        (990)         (49)        (189)        (238)


Income                                10,037            -       10,037        7,138            -        7,138


Management fee                       (3,703)            -      (3,703)      (2,716)            -      (2,716)


Other expenses                       (1,039)         (31)      (1,070)        (858)         (17)        (875)


Net return before finance costs
and taxation                           5,265       99,937      105,202        3,515      101,330      104,845
                                      

Interest payable and similar
charges                                (831)            -        (831)        (690)            -        (690)
                                      


Return on ordinary activities
before taxation                        4,434       99,937      104,371        2,825      101,330      104,155
                                     


Taxation on ordinary activities        (220)        (100)        (320)        (699)            -        (699)

                                   
Return on ordinary activities
after taxation                         4,214       99,837      104,051        2,126      101,330      103,456
                                      


Dividend on ordinary shares


1st interim of 2.00 cents
(2003: 0.56 cents)                   (1,457)            -      (1,457)        (413)            -        (413)
                                     


Proposed second interim of 3.00      
cents (2003: nil)                    (2,093)            -      (2,093)            -            -            -


                                     (3,550)            -      (3,550)        (413)            -        (413)


Amount transferred
to reserves                              664       99,837      100,501        1,713      101,330      103,043


Return per ordinary share
(basic) - cents                         5.80       137.31       143.11         2.88       137.37       140.25
                                       


Return per ordinary share
(diluted) - cents                       5.33                                   2.71
                                       

* The revenue column of this statement is the profit and loss account of the
Company. All revenue and capital items in the above statement derive from
continuing operations.


Cash Flow Statement for
the year ended 31 December


                                                                                    2004                   2003
                                                                                US$'000s               US$'000s

Net cash inflow from operating activities                                          4,988                  2,239
Interest paid                                                                    (1,249)                  (456)
Taxation paid                                                                      (616)                  (421)
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from financial investment                               40,908               (14,521)
Equity dividends paid                                                            (1,870)                      -
Net cash inflow/(outflow) before use of liquid resources
and financing                                                                     42,161               (13,159)
                                                                              
Decrease in short-term deposits                                                        -                 13,011
Net cash outflow from financing                                                 (35,700)                      -
Increase/(decrease) in cash                                                        6,461                  (148)







Notes

The Board has declared an interim dividend 3.00 cents per share payable on 29
April 2005, to shareholders on the register on 29 March 2005. The Board is not
recommending a payment of a final dividend.



The above financial information comprises non-statutory accounts within the
meaning of section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. The financial information for
the year ended 31 December 2003 has been extracted from published accounts for
the year ended 31 December 2003 that have been delivered to the Registrar of
Companies and on which the report of the auditors was unqualified.



Diluted net asset value per ordinary share has been calculated in accordance
with the Articles basis as set out in the Statement of Recommended Practice '
Financial Statements of Investment trust Companies' (SORP) issued in January
2003.



The report and accounts will be posted to shareholders at the end of March 2005
and copies

Maybe obtained during normal business hours from the Registered Office of the
Company, Exchange House, Primrose Street, London, EC2A 2NY.



The Annual General Meeting will be held at the Company's Registered Office,
Exchange House, Primrose Street, London EC2A 2NY, on Wednesday 4 May 2005, at
12.15 p.m.





By order of the Board

F&C Emerging Markets Limited, Secretary

10 March 2005


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