Alcoa recently announced net income for the 2002 first quarter of $218 million, or 26 cents per diluted share.

Alcoa Inc. recently announced net income for the 2002 first quarter of $218 million, or 26 cents per diluted share. Alcoa earned $404 million, or 46 cents per diluted share, in the 2001 first quarter. Alcoa lost $142 million, or 17 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2001. Included in the fourth quarter is a special after tax charge of $241 million, or 28 cents per share, for a strategic restructuring in the company's manufacturing system. "The near-term operating climate remains challenging, and we continue to focus on managing what is in our control," said Chairman and CEO Alain Belda. "As demand for aluminum strengthens, we will capture the efficiencies generated by last year's strategic restructuring of our operations and the continued deployment of the Alcoa Business System (ABS)." Net income for the 2002 first quarter includes income of $34 million, or 4 cents per share, from the cumulative effect of the change in accounting for goodwill required by the adoption of FASB 142. The income is primarily the result of the write-off of negative goodwill generated by acquiring assets below book value, demonstrating Alcoa's disciplined approach to acquisitions. In addition to this one-time adjustment, goodwill will no longer be amortized under the new accounting standard. This change had a positive impact of $44 million, or 5 cents per share, in the first quarter compared with the year ago quarter. Alcoa's quarterly analysts' meeting and conference call will be held at 4 p.m. EDT on April 25 and will be webcast via www.alcoa.com.

For additional information, call (212) 836-2674 or visit http://www.alcoa.com.