First quarter resultswere lower primarily due to reduced North American sales volumes

First quarter resultswere lower primarily due to reduced North American sales volumes and to highercost inventory in the segment.In Asia, an earlier than usual Lunar New Year resulted in some holiday salesvolumes in China occurring in December rather than in January. Ball’s jointventure metal beverage packaging plant under construction in Tres Rios, Brazilis on schedule to begin production in late 2009.Metal Beverage Packaging, EuropeMetal beverage packaging, Europe, comparable segment results in the quarterwere operating earnings of $30.9 million on sales of $343.8 million, comparedto $48 million on sales of $405.6 million in 2008 Higher priced metal ininventories and a stronger U.S. dollar negatively affected segment results.Ball’s strong export volumes during the quarter, largely to Africa, partiallyalleviated the effects of a decrease in industry sales volumes in Europe. Acontinued focus on aligning Ball’s supply with market demand and on costoptimization throughout the supply chain positively affected results.

Metal Food & Household Products Packaging, AmericasMetal food and household products packaging, Americas, comparable segmentresults in the quarter were operating earnings of $49.6 million on sales of$283.6 million, compared to $14.8 million in 2008 on sales of $263.8 million.Disciplined pricing initiatives, higher volumes later in the quarter and metalinventory holding gains contributed significantly to improved results. Strongcost control and focused execution in manufacturing plants also improvedperformance in the quarter.Plastic Packaging, AmericasPlastic packaging, Americas, comparable segment results in the first quarterwere operating earnings of $3.6 million on sales of $159.7 million, comparedto $4.8 million on sales of $188.9 million in the first quarter of 2008. Whileoverall volumes decreased, the custom/commodity product mix improved as thesegment continued its focus on growing the custom portion of the business anddelivering value through innovation.Ball announced earlier this month that it will permanently cease manufacturingoperations at two monolayer PET bottle plants in North America and consolidatevolumes from those plants into larger manufacturing facilities. As a result,an after-tax charge of approximately $14 million will be recorded in thecompany’s second quarter results. Cost savings associated with these actionsare expected to be approximately $12 million annually beginning in 2010.Aerospace and TechnologiesAerospace and technologies comparable segment results were operating earningsof $14.6 million on sales of $178.1 million in the quarter, compared to $22million, including the gain on the sale of an Australian subsidiary, on salesof $178 million in 2008. Backlog at the end of the quarter was $592 million.The Ball Aerospace-built Kepler spacecraft successfully launched in Marchcarrying the largest camera ever sent by NASA beyond Earth’s orbit.

Kepler isthe first NASA mission capable of finding Earth-sized planets in potentiallyhabitable zones. Ball Aerospace was also selected during the quarter as thecontractor for the Ares I Instrument Unit Assembly Flight Computer and CommandTelemetry Computer.Outlook”We continue to anticipate full-year free cash flow to be in the range of $375million, and capital spending for the year is expected to be less than $250million,” said Raymond J. Seabrook, executive vice president and chieffinancial officer. “Lower manufacturing costs as a result of the plantclosings completed at the end of the first quarter, the elimination of highercost inventories and a $35 million full year reduction in interest expensewill contribute to improved second half results.” “We are managing our businesses with a sharp focus on controlling costs,delivering value with our products and proactively balancing our supply withmarket demand,” Hoover said.