BLL Ball Corp

Ball to Announce Fourth Quarter Earnings on Jan. 27 BROOMFIELD, Colo., Dec. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) will announce its fourth quarter earnings on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2005, before trading begins on the New York Stock Exchange. At 9 a.m. Mountain Time on that day (11 a.m. Eastern), Ball will hold its regular quarterly conference call on the company's results and performance. R. David Hoover, Ball's chairman, president and chief executive officer, will host the call. The North American toll-free number for the call is 888-391-0235. International callers should dial 646-862-1155. For those unable to listen to the live call, a taped rebroadcast will be available until 11 p.m. Mountain Time on Feb. 3, 2005. To access the rebroadcast, dial 800-633-8284 (domestic callers) or +1-402-977-9140 (international callers) and enter 21219416 as the reservation number. To listen to the call via Web cast, please use the following URL for the live call and for replay: phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-eventDetails&c=115234&eventID=989918 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." Ball Corporation is a supplier of high-quality metal and plastic packaging products to 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 employs more than 13,000 people worldwide and reported 2003 sales of $4.9 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 such words 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 the company's website and at http://www.sec.gov/. Factors that might affect the packaging segments of the company include fluctuation in consumer and customer demand; availability and cost of raw materials, particularly resin, steel, aluminum and energy, and the ability to pass on to customers changes in these costs; competitive packaging material 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 contracts or the loss of a major customer; international business risks, such as foreign exchange rates, tax rates and activities of foreign subsidiaries; and the effect of LIFO accounting on earnings. Factors that might affect the 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: successful and unsuccessful acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures and associated integration activities; regulatory action or laws including environmental and workplace safety; governmental investigations; goodwill impairment; antitrust and other litigation; strikes; boycotts; increases in various employee benefits and labor costs; rates of return projected and earned on assets of the company's defined benefit retirement plans; reduced cash flow; and interest rates affecting our debt. DATASOURCE: Ball Corporation CONTACT: Investors, Ann 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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