Holding(s) in Company

SCHEDULE 10 NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTERESTS IN SHARES 1) Name of company Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust plc 2) Name of shareholder having a major interest The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc 3) Please state whether notification indicates that it is in respect of holding of the shareholder named in 2 above or in respect of a non-beneficial interest or in the case of an individual holder if it is a holding of that person's spouse or children under the age of 18 As stated in 2 above 4) Name of the registered holder(s) and, if more than one holder, the number of shares held by each of them Not disclosed 5) Number of shares/amount of stock acquired N/A 6) Percentage of issued class N/A 7) Number of shares/amount of stock disposed Not disclosed 8) Percentage of issued class N/A 9) Class of security Ordinary Shares of 1p 10) Date of transaction Not disclosed 11) Date company informed 23 January 2004 12) Total holding following this notification 2,019,396 13) Total percentage holding of issued class following this notification 2.04% 14) Any additional information As the holding is now below 3%, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc no longer have a notifiable interest in the Company's issued share capital 15) Name of contact and telephone number for queries David Holland - 0131 220 0733 16) Name and signature of authorised company official responsible for making this notification David Holland for Aberforth Partners, Secretaries. Date of notification - 23 January 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/01/23/20040123BIT00410/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/01/23/20040123BIT00410/wkr0002.pdf