PPT Putnam Premier Income Trust

Putnam Investments today announced quarterly performance results for Putnam Premier Income Trust (NYSE: PPT), a closed-end fund, for the three months ended October 31, 2009.

The per-share net asset value (NAV) for the fund was $6.33 as of the close of business on October 31, 2009. The per-share NAV for the fund was $5.73 as of July 31, 2009. The share price as traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 31, 2009 was $5.90. The share price for the fund was $5.37 as of July 31, 2009. The fund's total return for the three months ended October 31, 2009 was 13.07%, based on net asset value, and 12.46% based on NYSE share price.

Additional quarterly data is as follows:

                                                Three months  Three months
                                                    ended         ended
                                                 October 31,   October 31,
                                                     2009         2008
                                                ------------- ------------
Total investment income
   Total                                        $  21,448,245   18,077,999
   Per share*                                   $         .15          .12

                                                ------------- ------------
Net investment income
   Total                                        $  19,465,168   16,211,369
   Per share*                                   $         .14          .11

                                                ------------- ------------
Net realized and unrealized gain(loss)
 on investments
   Total                                        $  83,605,800 (200,103,988)
   Per share*                                   $         .60        (1.37)

                                                ------------- ------------
Net increase (decrease) in net assets
 resulting from operations
   Total                                        $ 103,070,968 (183,892,619)
   Per share*                                   $         .74        (1.26)

                                                ------------- ------------
Net assets available at the end of
 the period
   Total                                        $ 887,331,290  742,396,937
   Per share*                                   $        6.33         5.19
                                                ------------- ------------

* per common share

About Putnam

Founded in 1937, Putnam Investments is a leading global money management firm with over 70 years of investment experience. At the end of November 2009, Putnam had $114 billion in assets under management. Putnam has offices in Boston, London, Tokyo, Singapore, and Sydney. For more information, go to www.putnam.com.

For more information about Putnam, visit the "News & Outlook" section of the company's Website, www.putnam.com.