At today€s press conference announcing the Scania Year-End Report for 1998, President and CEO Leif Östling issued the fo

At today's press conference announcing the Scania Year-End Report for 1998, President and CEO Leif Östling issued the following comment regarding his sale of options: "For personal financial reasons, I have wished to free up capital for a while. On 8 February, I sold 245,000 Scania call options, which was a small portion of my Scania security holdings. This sale occurred after the preliminary report for 1998 was published on 18 January. The sale took place in accordance with the applicable set of rules. I understand that the timing of the sale now appears unfortunate, creating a symbolic value that was never my intention. I very deeply apologize for all of this. "The sale does not affect my commitment to Scania in any way. My faith in Scania and in our future remains firm and strong. I still own 50,000 shares in the Company which I intend to keep. "I will be donating the surplus from my sale of options, after capital gains taxation, to the Scania personnel foundation. "I have informed my Board of Directors and have no other comments." For further information, please contact: Louise Jarn Melander, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications Tel +46 8 5538 1212, mobile phone +46 70 607 60 30 Scania's press releases are available on the Internet at www.scania.com Scania is one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. With 23,500 employees and production facilities in Europe and Latin America, Scania is one of the most profitable companies in its sector. In 1998, turnover totalled SEK 45,300 million and income after financial items SEK 3,200 million. Scania products are marketed in about 100 countries worldwide and approximately 96 percent of total production is sold outside Sweden. ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/02/17/19990217BIT00520/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/02/17/19990217BIT00520/bit0002.pdf