Royce Focus Trust (Nasdaq: FUND) as of January 31, 2004 NEW YORK, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- -- Invests in a limited number of small-cap companies using a value approach -- Average weekly trading volume of approximately 186,000 shares -- Fund's adviser has more than 25 years of small- and micro-cap investment experience Closing Prices - January 31, 2004 NAV $9.34 MKT $8.65 Total Return Performance Periods ended January 31, 2004 NAV MKT 1 Month* 3.78% 2.00% One-Year 64.35 70.96 Three-Year Average Annual 13.24 15.65 Five-YearAverage Annual 16.72 19.30 From Inception (11/1/96**) Average Annual 12.70 14.45 * Not Annualized ** Royce and Associates, LLC assumed investment management responsibilities for the Fundon 11/1/96. Portfolio Diagnostics Median Market Cap $1,192 million Wtd. Average P/E Ratio: 23.3x* Wtd. Average P/B Ratio: 2.4x Wtd. Average Yield: 0.6% Net Assets Attributable to Common Stock: $90 million Net Leverage: 4% *Excludes 18% of portfolio holdings with zero or negative earnings as of 12/31/03. Net leverage is the percentage, in excess of 100%, of the total value of equity type investments, divided by net assets, applicable to common stock. Portfolio Composition Top 10 Positions % of Net Assets 1. New Zealand Government 6.5% Bond 7.2% 2. TSX Group 4.3 3. E*TRADE Financial 4.0 4. Nu Skin Enterprises Cl. A 3.7 5. Simpson Manufacturing 3.6 6. Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings 3.4 7. Alleghany Corporation 3.0 8. Florida Rock Industries 2.9 9. Hecla Mining Company 2.8 10. Ensign Resource Service Group 2.7 Top Five Industries % of Net Assets 1. Natural Resources 17% 2. Financial Intermediaries 14 3. Health 13 4. Industrial Products 12 5. Technology 11 Recent Developments Royce Focus Trust, Inc. is a closed-end diversified management investment company whose shares of Common Stock are listed and traded on the Nasdaq National Market (Nasdaq - FUND) and whose shares of 6.00% Cumulative Preferred Stock are listed and traded on the NYSE (RFO.pra). The Fund's investment goal is long-term capital growth, which it seeks by normally investing as least 75% of its assets in equity securities. Daily net asset values (NAVs) for Royce Focus Trust are now available on our website and online through most ticker symbol lookup services and on broker terminals under the symbol XFUNX. Formore information, please call The Royce Funds at (800) 221-4268 or visit our website at http://www.roycefunds.com/. DATASOURCE: Royce Focus Trust, Inc. CONTACT: John D. Diederich of Royce Focus Trust, +1-212-508-4572 Web site: http://www.roycefunds.com/

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