Continued improvement in Boliden's remaining operations

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Feb. 10, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Boliden:

- The structural transaction between Boliden and Outokumpu wascompleted as planned at the end of December 2003. The transactioninvolved the acquisition by Boliden of Outokumpu's zinc and coppermining and smelting operations and the sale of the fabrication andtechnology sales operations to Outokumpu. The new Boliden commencedoperations on 1st January 2004.

- Turnover for the remaining Boliden operations (Mining Operationsand Smelting Operations) totalled SEK 7,153 million (SEK 7,127 m) forthe full year 2003, and SEK 1,973 million (SEK 1,651 m) for the fourthquarter.

- Earnings after net financial items for Boliden's remainingoperations improved to SEK 327 million (SEK 144 m) for the full year2003, and to SEK 160 million (SEK 105 m) for the fourth quarter.

- Profit after tax for the remaining operations totalled SEK 596million (SEK 166 m), which corresponds to an EPS of SEK 6.92 (SEK 1.94)for the full year 2003. The profit after tax for the fourth quarter wasSEK 257 million (SEK 108 m), corresponding to an EPS of SEK 2.96 (SEK1.26).

- Cash flow for Boliden's remaining operations was SEK 697 million(SEK -32 m) for the full year 2003.

- The Equity Ratio increased to 30.7 (24.2) percent while theDebt/Equity ratio improved to 147 (183) percent at the end of 2003. Therights issue planned for the first quarter of 2004 will further improvethese key ratios.

- Turnover for the Boliden Group including divested operationstotalled SEK 9,545 million (SEK 9,556 m) for the full year and SEK 2,583million (SEK 2,304 m) for the fourth quarter.

- Earnings after net financial items for the Boliden Group includingdivested operations totalled SEK -251 million (SEK 111 m) for the fullyear 2003. Earnings after net financial items for the fourth quarterwere SEK -331 million (SEK 78 m). The result for the fourth quarter wasnegatively affected by a substantially lower earnings trend thananticipated in the divested Business Area Fabrication. The previouslyannounced capital loss of SEK 394 million, which also includesprovisions for future guarantees relating to the operations divested,also had a negative effect on the result. At the same time, the figurewas boosted by the positive trend in the Business Area MiningOperations.

- Profit after tax for the Boliden Group including divestedoperations amounted to SEK 13 million (SEK 132 m), while the figure forthe fourth quarter was SEK -237 million (SEK 80 m).

- The cash flow for the Group including divested operations was SEK611 million (SEK -14 m) for the full year 2003 and SEK 577 million (SEK466 m) for the fourth quarter.

Boliden AB (publ), company registration number: 556051-4142

This Interim Report has been prepared in accordance with the Swedish Financial Accounting Standards Council's RR 22 Interim Reporting recommendation. The accounting principles and methods of calculation comply with the recommendations and guidelines issued by the Swedish Financial Accounting Standards Council. The Interim Report has not been subject to specific examination by the company's auditors.

Contact persons for further information:


 Jan Johansson, President & CEO        Tel      +46 8 610 16 02
 jan.c.johansson@boliden.se            Mobile   +46 70 555 02 02

 Ulf Soderstrom, VP, Public Relations  Tel      +46 8 610 15 57
 ulf.soderstrom@boliden.se             Mobile   +46 70 618 95 95

 Jan Ohman, CFO                        Tel      +46 8 610 15 33
 jan.ohman@boliden.se                  Mobile   +46 70 624 19 05

Continued improvement in Boliden's remaining operations

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