Statement re asbestos case

ABB Ltd
03 December 2004



ABB asbestos case to be reviewed

Company confident of addressing outstanding issues promptly



Zurich, Switzerland, December 3, 2004 - The Third Circuit Court of Appeals in
the United States has ruled that ABB's Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization for its
U.S. subsidiary, Combustion Engineering (CE) will be reviewed again by the
District Court.



Under the Plan of Reorganization announced in January 2003, ABB offered a $1.2
billion trust fund for claims against CE. It consisted of the assets of CE
valued at $812 million, about 30 million ABB shares, and cash contributions
totalling about $350 million. The plan was accepted by an overwhelming majority
of claimants, and approved by both the Bankruptcy and District courts.



ABB said it was considering its options and fully expects to be able to resolve
the issues raised by the Appeals Court, and will move quickly to do so.



In the meantime, CE remains in Chapter 11, and it and the ABB group remain
protected from asbestos litigation by the Bankruptcy Court's injunction.



The Third Circuit Court of Appeals found that it was not appropriate to include
Lummus Global and Basic Ltd in the Combustion Engineering Plan. ABB said it
would look promptly at other mechanisms to deal with the insignificant asbestos
exposure of these two companies.





'Given the fact that both the Bankruptcy and District Courts have approved the
Combustion Engineering Plan of Reorganization, we are naturally surprised and
disappointed at today's decision,' said Jurgen Dormann ABB chairman and CEO. '
But we remain confident that we can resolve Combustion Engineering's asbestos
liability within a Plan of Reorganization compatible with the Third Circuit's
decision within a relatively short time frame and without significant additional
cost.'



ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable
utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering
environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100
countries and employs about 103,000 people.



ABB will host a telephone conference today for financial analysts, investors and
the media starting at 10:00 Central European Time (CET). Callers from the U.K.
should dial [phone], from the rest of Europe, dial [phone],
and from the U.S. [phone]. Lines will be open 15 minutes before the
start of the conference. The audio playback of the conference call will start
one hour after the end of the call and be available for 96 hours. Playback
numbers: [phone] (U.K.), [phone] (rest of Europe) or +1 412 317
0088 (U.S.). The code is 285, followed by the # key.




                      This information is provided by RNS
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