Dear Shareholder,

We present this Semi-Annual Report, which covers the activities of Aberdeen Income Credit Strategies Fund (the “Fund”), for the six-month period ended April 30, 2018. The Fund’s primary investment objective is to seek a high level of current income, with a secondary objective of capital appreciation.

Total Investment Return

For the six-month period ended April 30, 2018, the total return to shareholders of the Fund based on the net asset value (“NAV”) and market price of the Fund are as follows:

*assuming the reinvestment of dividends and distributions

The Fund’s total return is based on the reported NAV on each financial reporting period end and may differ from what is reported on the Financial Highlights due to financial statement rounding or adjustments. For more information about Fund performance please see page 3 Report of the Investment Adviser.

NAV, Share Price and Discount

Revolving Credit Facility

The outstanding balance on the Fund’s revolving credit facility with The Bank of Nova Scotia as of April 30, 2018 was $83,000,000. Under the terms of the loan facility and applicable regulations, the Fund is required to maintain certain asset coverage ratios for the amount of its outstanding borrowings. The Board regularly reviews the use of leverage by the Fund.

Open Market Repurchase Program

On March 17, 2011, the Board approved a share repurchase program for the Fund. Under the repurchase program, the Fund is authorized to make open market purchases of its Common Shares as a measure to reduce any discount from net asset value in the market price of the Common Shares. The program authorizes the Fund to repurchase up to 10% of its outstanding Common Shares in any calendar year. The Fund is not required to make any such repurchases and there can be no assurances that it will. There also can be no assurances that any such repurchases would have the effect of reducing any discount from net asset value in the market price of the Common Shares. The Fund’s ability to make repurchases will also be subject to regulatory

requirements and to the Fund’s ability to liquidate portfolio investments to raise cash for such repurchases. For the six-months ended April 30, 2018 and the fiscal year ended October 31, 2017, the Fund did not make any share repurchases.

Portfolio Holdings Disclosure

The Fund’s complete schedule of portfolio holdings for the second and fourth quarters of each fiscal year are included in the Fund’s semi-annual and annual report to shareholders. The Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Fund’s Form N-Q filings are available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov and may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. Information about the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330. The Fund makes the information on Form N-Q available to shareholders on the Fund’s website or upon request and without charge by calling Investor Relations toll-free at 1-800-522-5465.

Proxy Voting

A description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities, and information regarding how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent twelve months ended June 30 is available by August 31 of the relevant year: (i) upon request without charge by calling Investor Relations toll-free at 1-800-522-5465; and (ii) on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

Unclaimed Share Accounts

Please be advised that abandoned or unclaimed property laws for certain states require financial organizations to transfer (escheat) unclaimed property (including Fund shares) to the state. Each state has its own definition of unclaimed property, and Fund shares could be considered “unclaimed property” due to account inactivity (e.g., no owner-generated activity for a certain period), returned mail (e.g., when mail sent to a shareholder is returned to the Fund’s transfer agent as undeliverable), or a combination of both. If your Fund shares are categorized as unclaimed, your financial advisor or the Fund’s transfer agent will follow the applicable state’s statutory requirements to contact you, but if unsuccessful, laws may require that the shares be escheated to the appropriate state. If this happens, you will have to contact the state to recover your property, which may involve time and expense. For more information on unclaimed property and how to maintain an active account, please contact your financial adviser or the Fund’s transfer agent.

Investor Relations Information

As part of Aberdeen’s commitment to shareholders, we invite you to visit the Fund on the web at www.aberdeenacp.com. Here, you can view monthly fact sheets, quarterly commentary, distribution and performance information, updated daily fact sheets courtesy of Morningstar®, portfolio charting and other Fund literature.

Enroll in our email services today and be among the first to receive the latest closed-end fund news, announcements, videos and information. In addition, you can receive electronic versions of important Fund documents including annual reports, semi-annual reports, prospectuses, and proxy statements. Sign up today at cef.aberdeen-asset.us/en/cefinvestorcenter/contact-us/email.

For your convenience, included within this report is a reply card with postage paid envelope. Please complete and mail the card if you would like to be added to our enhanced email service and receive future communications from Aberdeen.

Contact Us:

• Visit: cef.aberdeen-asset.us/;

• Watch: cef.aberdeen-asset.us/en/cefinvestorcenter/aberdeen-closed-end-fund-tv;

• Email: InvestorRelations@aberdeenstandard.com; or

• Call: 1-800-522-5465 (toll free in the U.S.).

Yours sincerely,

Christian Pittard
President

Market review

Global high-yield markets, as measured by the ICE Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA ML) Global High Yield Constrained Index1, saw a modest decline of 0.21% for the six-month period ended April 30, 2018. During a period in which rising U.S. Treasury yields hampered returns, the relatively short average duration and higher yields of the asset class served to absorb much of the impact. The global high-yield market fared considerably better than the five-year Treasury2 and U.S. investment-grade markets, which returned -2.29% and -2.34%, respectively, for the reporting period.

There were several major events which captured investors’ attention during the period. The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) increased its benchmark interest rate in both December 2017 and March 2018, and the consensus market opinion is that it remains on course for potentially two further hikes over the remainder of the 2018 calendar year. U.S. tax reform, which was supported by President Donald Trump and enacted by Congress in December 2017, was initially met with some euphoria in risk assets. However, as the pace of the sell-off in Treasuries accelerated, investors became concerned that the tax cuts could cause the economy to overheat, and towards the end of January 2018, U.S. equities declined and credit spreads widened.

U.S. economic data softened slightly during the first quarter of 2018, but remain at a level which we believe is supportive of credit markets. Furthermore, inflation remains subdued. In Europe, the European Central Bank (ECB) began to taper its monthly purchases of securities under its quantitative easing program. It is generally expected that the ECB’s program will cease by the end of this year.

In February 2018, investors focused on President Trump’s trade tariffs. The broad consensus in financial markets is that trade barriers ultimately tend to be a “lose/lose” situation, increasing costs for companies and consumers and resulting in unintended consequences. The tariffs were targeted mainly at China, which reacted with a series of its own “tit for tat” trade measures. However, the rhetoric seemed to calm relatively quickly. Investors’ attention turned to Russian sanctions that caused volatility in Russian debt issuers, as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) were put on a sanctions list, precluding

U.S. and, by extension, western companies, from conducting business with them. Russian aluminum producer Rusal (which the Fund does not hold) was particularly hard-hit by the sanctions.

Fund performance review

The Fund returned 4.70% on a net asset value basis for the six-month period ended April 30, 2018.

During the reporting period, the Fund maintained significant exposure to the energy sector. Consequently, many of these positions benefited from the tailwind of a rally in the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil price, which rose 26% over the period.

The main contributors to Fund performance for the reporting period included oil and gas exploration and production company EP Energy Corp., as its bonds rallied sharply due to an exchange offer on the bonds from the company and continued terming out3 of front-end maturities. Additionally, market transactions in the company’s acreage for oil and natural gas assets confirmed higher valuations and, therefore, improved recovery prospects for the bonds. The Fund’s holding in Seadrill LP bolstered relative performance as the offshore drilling services provider’s term loan gained ground after the company reached a refinancing agreement with lenders. We reduced the Fund’s position in Seadrill following the period of share-price strength. California Resources’ term loan and bonds continued to benefit from the company’s improved results and maturity schedule after a November 2017 refinancing that boosted liquidity, saw covenants4 relaxed somewhat, and also extended the company’s debt maturity profile. The bonds of luxury retailer Neiman Marcus rallied after the company posted better-than-expected results and following the appointment of a new CEO. Retailer JC Penney’s bonds gained ground after garnering better-than-expected results during the holiday shopping season in December 2017. Frontier Communications Corp.’s bonds performed well following the company’s launch of a consent solicitation5 to amend covenants in its bonds and loans and to permit additional debt in the structure, thereby allowing the refinancing of shorter maturities. Retail pharmacy chain operator Rite Aid concluded the sale of its assets to competitor Walgreens and then announced the sale of the balance of the business to supermarket chain operator

Albertsons. Staples Inc.’s bonds rose after the office products retailer recorded positive quarterly results. Additionally, investors took a favorable view of the company’s appointment of a new chief executive officer, J. Alexander Douglas, who formerly served as North American president for The Coca-Cola Company.

Finally, the Fund’s holding in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. also bolstered performance as the company saw improved results, divestments and continued terming out of front-end maturities.

Conversely, the Fund’s holding in Sable Permian weighed on performance for the quarter, as the oil and gas exploration and production company’s poor drilling performance continued and a restructuring of its debt looms. Independent power producer Talen Energy’s bonds lost ground after the private equity owner announced a large dividend. Bonds of packaging company Kloeckner and telecom operator Digicel Group declined after the companies reported weaker-than-expected results.

Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited and Aberdeen Asset Management Inc. assumed responsibility for the management of the Aberdeen Income Credit Strategies Fund as investment adviser and sub-adviser, respectively, on December 1, 2017. Portfolio activity was higher than it typically has been in the past as we took several actions in an effort to increase both the Fund’s yield and total return.

We exited the Fund’s 6% allocation to high-yield exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and reinvested the process of the sale and the Fund’s initial 4% cash balance into the higher income-producing assets.

At the beginning of the reporting period, all of the Fund’s credit holdings were U.S. dollar-denominated. At the end of the reporting period on April 30, 2018, the currency distribution for the Fund’s credit holdings comprised 17% euro, 15% sterling and the balance of 68% in U.S. dollars.

Over the past six months, the continued interest-rate hikes from the Fed have led to a significant decrease in the costs of hedging6 non-U.S. dollar exposures. We have continued to take advantage of this phenomenon for two principal reasons. First, we expect the differential between U.S. and European interest rates to continue to grow as the Fed seeks to normalize interest rates, while we think that the European

Central Bank (ECB) is likely to be on hold for at least another year. Secondly, we believe that European credit swapped into dollars offers an attractive source of income and diversification for the Fund.

On December 31, 2017, the weighted average cash price7 of the Fund’s assets was 93.4. At the end of the reporting period on April 30, 2018, the weighted average cash price was slightly higher at 95.7.

Outlook

The average spread on the ICE BofA ML U.S. High Yield Master II Index8 ended the period at 346 bps, which is just 20 bps wider than the post-global financial crisis lows reached in January this year. As of the end of the reporting period on April 30, 2018, credit spreads had absorbed more than one-third of the rise in Treasury yields since September 2017. We do not believe that credit spreads have the capacity to continue to absorb further interest-rate hikes from the Federal Reserve and expect the correlation between Treasuries and spreads to increase from here. Current credit spread levels reflect low default rates, which are generally expected to continue, supported by decent economic growth and subdued inflation. Should higher inflation expectations force the Fed to move more aggressively than the market currently anticipates, this could pressure equities and, to some extent, high-yield securities. The credit cycle is mature and, while the individual and corporate tax cuts implemented in early 2018 may provide a small boost to U.S. gross domestic product, we believe that this may be offset by Fed interest-rate hikes. The current consensus market opinion suggests that the tax cuts favor higher-rated (i.e., less indebted) companies and impose a negative impact on the lower-rated part of high-yield markets. However, each company will have its own reaction function9 and the extent to which they may have tax losses, accelerated depreciation of assets or other mitigating actions will not become apparent for some time. While valuations in the global high-yield market appear to be full, we believe that they reflect a strong environment for credit.

All indices are hedged to U.S. dollars.

Indexes are unmanaged and have been provided for comparison purposes only. No fees or expenses are reflected. You cannot invest directly in an index.

Loan Facility and the Use of Leverage

During the period, the Fund’s use of leverage increased from 29.4% to 29.5% as a percentage of managed assets and the leverage amount of $83,000,000 remained unchanged during the period. The Fund utilizes leverage to seek to increase the yield for its shareholders. The amounts borrowed from the Fund’s loan facility may be invested to seek to return higher rates than the rates in the Fund’s portfolio. However, the cost of leverage could exceed the income earned by the Fund on the proceeds of such leverage. To the extent that the Fund is unable to invest the proceeds from the use of leverage in assets which pay interest at a rate which exceeds the rate paid on the leverage, the yield on the Fund’s common stock will decrease. In addition, in the event of a general market decline in the value of assets in which the Fund invests, the effect of that decline will be magnified in the Fund because of the additional assets purchased with the proceeds of the leverage. Non-recurring expenses in connection with the implementation of the loan facility will reduce the Fund’s performance.

The Fund’s leveraged capital structure creates special risks not associated with unleveraged funds having similar investment objectives and policies. The funds borrowed pursuant to the loan facility may constitute a substantial lien and burden by reason of their prior claim against the income of the Fund and against the net assets of the Fund in liquidation. The Fund is not permitted to declare dividends or other distributions in the event of default under the loan

facility. In the event of default under the loan facility, the lender has the right to cause a liquidation of the collateral (i.e., sell portfolio securities and other assets of the Fund) and, if any such default is not cured, the lender may be able to control the liquidation as well. The loan facility has a term of one year and is not a perpetual form of leverage; there can be no assurance that the loan facility will be available for renewal on acceptable terms, if at all.

The credit agreement governing the loan facility includes usual and customary covenants for this type of transaction. These covenants impose on the Fund asset coverage requirements, Fund composition requirements and limits on certain investments, such as illiquid investments, which are more stringent than those imposed on the Fund by the Investment Company Act of 1940. The covenants or guidelines could impede the Investment Adviser or Sub-Adviser from fully managing the Fund’s portfolio in accordance with the Fund’s investment objective and policies. Furthermore, non-compliance with such covenants or the occurrence of other events could lead to the cancellation of the loan facility. The covenants also include a requirement that the Fund maintain net assets of no less than $67,501,648.

Prices and availability of leverage are volatile in the current market environment. The Board regularly reviews the use of leverage by the Fund and may explore other forms of leverage.

Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited