BLL Ball Corp

Ball Corporation to Convert Line to Meet Growing Demand for Specialty Cans; Board Declares Dividend BROOMFIELD, Colo., July 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) announced today that it is converting a beverage can manufacturing line in its Monticello, Ind., plant from the production of 12-ounce beverage cans to a line capable of producing beverage cans in sizes up to 16 ounces. The Monticello line conversion is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2006. In June, the company successfully completed the conversion of a line in its Golden, Colo., plant from 12-ounce cans to 24-ounce specialty beverage cans. "Demand for specialty sizes of beverage containers continues to grow," said Michael D. Herdman, president of Ball's metal beverage container operations. "Converting lines to make those sizes enables us to meet the needs of our customers and provide innovative, quality packaging to help grow their businesses and ours." The Monticello, Ind., plant is one of 19 Ball metal beverage can plants in North America. The company also operates 12 beverage can plants in Europe as part of Ball Packaging Europe, as well as seven owned and jointly owned packaging plants in China as part of Ball Asia Pacific and two joint venture beverage can plants in Brazil. Also today, Ball's board of directors declared a cash dividend of 10 cents per share, payable Sept. 15, 2005, to shareholders of record on Sept. 1, 2005. Ball Corporation is a supplier of 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. Ball Corporation employs more than 13,500 people and reported 2004 sales of $5.4 billion. Conference Call Information Ball Corporation will report its second quarter 2005 results on July 28 and will hold its quarterly conference call tomorrow at 9 a.m. Mountain Time (11 a.m. Eastern). The North American toll-free number for the call is 888-328-2938. International callers should dial 415-537-1912. For those unable to listen to the live call, a taped rebroadcast will be available until 10 p.m. Mountain Time on Aug. 4, 2005. To access the rebroadcast, dial 800-633-8284 (domestic callers) or +1-402-977-9140 (international callers) and enter 21250498 as the reservation number. To listen to the call via Web cast, please use the following URL for the live call and for replay: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-eventDetails&c =115234&eventID=1092714 A written transcript of the call will also be posted within 48 hours of the call's conclusion to Ball's Web site at http://www.ball.com/ in the investor relations section under "presentations." 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; failure to achieve anticipated productivity improvements or production cost reductions, including those associated with our beverage can end project; 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 tax, environmental and workplace safety; governmental investigations; goodwill impairment; antitrust and other litigation; strikes; boycotts; labor cost changes; 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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