Pechiney recently announced that it has been informed by the Corus Group plc that the Amsterdam Enterprise Court has rejected its application to overrule the decision of the board of Supervisory Directors of its Dutch Subsidiary. As a consequence, Corus is unable to proceed with the sale of its aluminum conversion business to Pechiney, and it will pay Pechiney an agreed breakup fee of 20 million euros, according to its contractual obligations. Although the Pechiney Group will, in principle, remain open to a possible transaction in the future should Corus wish to reopen discussions, it will now pursue other investment targets in line with the group's strategic objectives and strict investment criteria. As in the past two years, the group remains committed to selective and profitable growth, which proved in 2002 to deliver the synergies expected from the Soplaril and Eurofoil acquisitions in 2001.

Pechiney's website is located at http://www.pechiney.com .