Press release from the Annual General Meeting of AB Custos, April 5, 2001

Press release from the Annual General Meeting of AB Custos, April 5, 2001 · The Annual General Meeting approved a dividend of SEK 16.50 per ordinary share for 2000 (for 1999: SEK 11.50). · The Meeting approved a final settlement of the synthetic buy- back program carried out in accordance with the authorization from the 2000 Annual General Meeting, in the form of a share redemption targeted to Svenska Handelsbanken. · The Meeting authorized the Board to carry out synthetic buy- backs of Custos' own shares. · Decisions at the Annual General Meeting Dividend The dividend for the 2000 financial year was fixed at SEK 16.50 per share (for 1999: 11.50) and the record date on April 10, 2001. The dividend is expected to be paid on April 17, 2001. Redemption of ordinary shares in Custos The Annual General Meeting approved a reduction of Custos' share capital by MSEK 91.1 through the redemption of 3,642,712 ordinary shares. The purpose of the reduction in share capital is to achieve a final settlement of the synthetic buy-back program carried out in accordance with the authorization from the Annual General Meeting in April 2000, through a repayment to Svenska Handelsbanken in its capacity as a shareholder of Custos. The amount to be paid for each redeemed ordinary share amounts to the lowest quoted price paid on April 6, 2001, minus SEK 2. However, the redemption amount shall not exceed SEK 253 per share. Resolution in principle authorizing synthetic buy-backs of Custos' own shares The Annual General Meeting approved a resolution to authorize the Board of Directors to carry out synthetic buy-backs of a maximum of 4,000,000 of Custos' own shares, however corresponding to no more than SEK 1 billion. Liquidation clause Furthermore, after consideration in compliance with the Articles of Association, the Annual General Meeting decided that Custos shall not be liquidated. Board of Directors Per-Olof Eriksson, Christer Gardell, Leif Gustafsson, Sven Hagströmer, Magnus Henrekson, Sten K Johnson and Mats Qviberg were re-elected as members of the Board. Jonas Wahlström had declined re-election. At its subsequent statutory meeting, the Board re-elected Sven Hagströmer as its Chairman. Redemption of Series C shares in Custos In order to enable Custos efficiently and without delay to carry out its redemption program with payment consisting of SCA shares, an Extraordinary General Meeting on February 8, 2001 approved an issue of new Series C shares targeted to Svenska Handelsbanken AB. At its subsequent statutory meeting the Board of Directors approved, as provided by Section 4 of the Articles of Association, a reduction in Custos' share capital by an additional MSEK 152.1 ("the reduction amount") through a redemption of all 6,085,437 Series C shares. The Board decided, in accordance with Section 4 of the Articles of Association, that simultaneously with the reduction, an amount equivalent to the reduction amount shall be allocated to the statutory reserve. The purpose of the reduction of Custos' share capital is repayment to Svenska Handelsbanken AB, in its capacity as a shareholder in Custos, in an amount equivalent to the nominal amount of the shares plus an interest factor. After completion of the redemption procedure, Custos' share capital will amount to MSEK 450.8, divided into 18,030,654 ordinary shares. Information schedule Interim Report, January 1 - March 31April 18, 2001 Interim Report, January 1 - June 30 July 17, 2001 Interim Report, January 1 - September 30 October 17, 2001 Stockholm, April 5, 2001 AKTIEBOLAGET CUSTOS (publ) Board of Directors This press release is published in Swedish and English. In the event of any difference between the English version and the Swedish original, the Swedish version shall govern. Questions will be answered by Christer Gardell, CEO (+46 8 440 57 70). AB Custos, P.O. Box 1738, SE-111 87 Stockholm, Sweden. Phone +46 8 440 57 70, fax +46 8 440 57 80, Web-address: www.custos.se ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/04/05/20010405BIT01330/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/04/05/20010405BIT01330/bit0001.pdf