CEFA - Closed-End Fund Association

animate text

My Fund Comparison
Initilizing list...



> Advanced Search

Aberdeen Australia Equity Fund
Announces Quarterly Distribution
Aberdeen Asset Management

New York, November 22, 2006 – Aberdeen Australia Equity Fund, Inc. (“Fund”) (AMEX: IAF ) announced today that it will pay a quarterly distribution of US 32 cents per share on January 12, 2007 to all shareholders of record as of December 4, 2006.

The Fund has a managed distribution policy of paying quarterly distributions at an annual rate, set once a year, that is a percentage of the rolling average of the Fund’s prior four quarter-end net asset values. In March 2006, the Board of Directors determined that the rolling distribution rate would be 10% for the 12 months commencing with the distribution payable in April 2006. This policy is subject to regular review by the Fund’s Board of Directors.

The record date for this distribution is earlier than the date the Fund has used in the past for its fourth quarter distributions. The reason for this change is to facilitate, subject to market conditions, a public offering of Fund shares prior to the end of 2006. Pursuant to the terms of the Fund’s exemptive relief obtained for Section 19(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and other guidance received from the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Fund is limited to making a public offering within a specified period following the record date of a distribution.

The distributions will be made from current income, supplemented by realized capital gains and, to the extent necessary, paid-in capital. For the 12 months to October 31, 2006, the Fund has paid total distributions amounting to US $1.38 per share.

It is currently estimated that ordinary income and capital gain net income for 2006, plus any such undistributed amounts for 2005, may exceed the distributions paid in 2006 under the Fund’s managed distribution policy, by a range of US 10 cents per share to US 17 cents per share.

The Fund is subject to U.S. corporate, tax and securities laws. Under U.S. tax accounting rules, the amount of distributable income for each fiscal period depends on the actual exchange rates during the entire year between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which Fund assets are denominated, and on the aggregate gains and losses realized by the Fund during the entire year. Therefore, the exact amount of distributable income for each fiscal year can only be determined as of the end of the Fund’s fiscal year, October 31. However, under the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940, the Fund may be required to indicate the sources of certain distributions to shareholders. This estimated distribution composition may vary from quarter to quarter because it may be materially impacted by future realized gains and losses on securities and fluctuations in the value of the currencies in which Fund assets are denominated.

In January 2007, a Form 1099-DIV will be sent to shareholders, which will state the amount and composition of distributions and provide information with respect to their appropriate tax treatment for the 2006 calendar year. Qualifying U.S. taxpayers are generally entitled to a foreign withholding tax credit on distributions received. Shareholders will be informed as to the exact amount of the tax credit shortly after the end of the calendar year.

Although a registration statement has been filed with the SEC, it has not yet become effective. Therefore, the securities covered by the registration statement may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of such securities, in any State in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, prior to registration or qualification under the laws of any such State. This press release contains forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. The Fund does not undertake any obligation to update or publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or changes in expectations after the date of this release.