BLL Ball Corp

Ball Corporation to Announce Earnings April 28; Company to Hold Management Briefing in New York City BROOMFIELD, Colo., March 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- On Thursday, April 28, Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) will announce its first quarter 2005 earnings and host a management briefing and review of the company's operations. Results are scheduled to be released that morning before trading begins on the New York Stock Exchange. The briefing will be at 2 p.m. (Eastern) at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. The briefing is in conjunction with Ball's regularly scheduled board meeting. The investing public and others are invited to attend the briefing or to participate via toll-free telephone access at 800-638-5439 (domestic) or 617-614-3945 (international), or via live Web cast at: http://phx.corporate-/ ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-eventDetails&c=115234&eventID=1035473. A telephone replay of the briefing will be available approximately two hours after the briefing concludes and will be accessible for seven days at 888-286-8010 (domestic) or 617-801-6888 using the pass code 44341276. A Web replay of the call will be available at http://www.ball.com/ in the investor relations section under "presentations" for at least 30 days after the call. The briefing replaces, for this quarter, the company's quarterly earnings conference call. R. David Hoover, Ball's chairman, president and chief executive officer, will lead the briefing. Senior managers from Ball's North American and international packaging segments and its aerospace and technologies segment also will participate. "As we celebrate Ball's 125th anniversary in 2005, we want to take advantage of opportunities to show our appreciation to stakeholders who have contributed to our success and the company's longevity," Hoover said. "Certainly that includes investors. This briefing will give investors and others an excellent opportunity to hear from a wide range of our management team, and us a chance to thank investors for their confidence in Ball." Ball Corporation is a supplier of high-quality metal and plastic packaging products, primarily for the beverage and food industries. The company also owns Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., which develops sensors, spacecraft, systems and components for government and commercial markets. The company employs more than 13,200 people and reported 2004 sales of $5.4 billion. Forward-Looking Statements The information in this news release contains "forward-looking" statements and other statements concerning future events and financial performance. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," and variations of same and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Key risks and uncertainties are summarized in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, especially in Exhibit 99.2 in the most recent Form 10-K. These filings are available at our Web site and at http://www.sec.gov/. Factors that might affect our packaging segments include fluctuation in consumer and customer demand; availability and cost of raw materials, particularly the recent significant increases in resin, steel, aluminum and energy costs, and the ability to pass such increases on to customers; competitive packaging availability, pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather; fruit, vegetable and fishing yields; industry productive capacity and competitive activity; lack of productivity improvement or production cost reductions; the German mandatory deposit or other restrictive packaging laws; changes in major customer or supplier contracts or loss of a major customer or supplier; international business risks, including foreign exchange rates, tax rates and activities of foreign subsidiaries; and the effect of LIFO accounting on earnings. Factors that might affect aerospace segment include: funding, authorization and availability of government contracts and the nature and continuation of those contracts; and technical uncertainty associated with segment contracts. Factors that could affect the company as a whole include those listed plus: acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; regulatory action or laws including environmental and workplace safety; governmental investigations; goodwill impairment; antitrust and other litigation; strikes; boycotts; increases in employee benefits and labor costs; rates of return projected and earned on assets of the company's defined benefit retirement plans; reduced cash flow; interest rates affecting our debt; and changes to unaudited results due to statutory audits or management's evaluation of the company's internal control over financial reporting. DATASOURCE: Ball Corporation CONTACT: Investors, Ann. T. Scott, +1-303-460-3537, , or Media, Scott McCarty, +1-303-460-2103, , both of Ball Corporation Web site: http://www.ball.com/

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