New CEO

ABB Ltd
27 February 2004


ABB appoints Fred Kindle as new CEO

Zurich, Switzerland, February 27, 2004 - The Board of Directors of ABB Ltd
announced today that Fred Kindle has been appointed as the group's new chief
executive from next January. Kindle, the current chief executive of Swiss-based
technology concern Sulzer AG, will join ABB on September 1, 2004 and assume the
roles of president and CEO in January 2005.


As of January 2005, the current CEO Jurgen Dormann will revert to a single role
as chairman of ABB Ltd.


'The board of directors is very pleased that Fred Kindle has agreed to take on
this challenging and exciting task,' said Dormann. 'I and my fellow board
members are convinced that he will provide the right leadership and we look
forward to working with him'


His appointment follows a thorough and careful search and evaluation over the
past year for the next CEO, and after assessing a number of external and
internal candidates, ABB said.


Kindle said: 'I look forward to my new task at ABB. The know-how and commitment
of the people at ABB, the reputation of the ABB brand and the strong global
market position of the company provide an excellent foundation for an exciting
and successful future.'


As CEO of Sulzer AG, Kindle led the company through a period of fundamental
strategic realignment. He will remain with the company until mid-2004.


Kindle, 44, has been with Sulzer AG since 1992. In 1999 he became responsible
for Sulzer Industries, before being appointed CEO of Sulzer AG two years later.
He was elected to the board of directors in 2003.


Prior to joining company he spent four years as a consultant with McKinsey in
New York and Zurich, and also worked with technology company Hilti AG. He has
dual Swiss/Liechtenstein citizenship.


ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable
utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering
environmental impacts. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100
countries and employs about 115,000 people.

For more information please contact:

Media Relations:                                             

ABB Corporate Communications, Zurich
Thomas Schmidt, Wolfram Eberhardt
Tel:  [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]

Investor Relations:

Switzerland: Tel. [phone]                 
Sweden: Tel. [phone]
USA: Tel. [phone]
[e-mail]

A brief conference call with Jurgen Dormann and Fred Kindle for journalists,
analysts and investors is scheduled to begin at 1000 CET. Callers should dial
[phone]. They are requested to phone in ten minutes before the
conference call.

                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange