NEWS ADVISORY

May 1, 1999

Mr. & Mrs. William S. Patten, Jr. are proud to announce the arrival of their son, Max.

Max was born at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine at 7:57 p.m. on Thursday, April 29th�almost three days in advance of his due date. Weighing in at birth at eight pounds, thirteen ounces, the newest addition to the Patten family was born with a full head of dark hair and strong arms, legs, hands and feet�all systems appearing to be functional and sound.

�He already shows signs of being better looking and brighter than his father,� Sam Patten said, �which by itself will give him a good head start in the world.� His mother, Aizhan, agreed. Tired from his difficult journey,

Max declined comment.

Swiss cement always #1: Holderbank + 10.4% in 1998

By Alessandro RAIMONDI

LUGANO, May 1

(THE GLOBE)

Holderbank, in fact, envisages a strengthening of its activity in the Americas where already last year it has harvested rewarding financial satisfactions.To do so the president of the board of directors, Thomas Schmidheiny, has proposed the board to ask shareholders a rise of capital in the order of 6-7% by means of a 4% underwriting of a new issue of shares and, in a second step, a further 2-3% increase through a convertible loan.

The group has alredy invested 2.7 billion SF last year to make its position in the Philippines, Thailand and Argentina stronger than ever. The 682,000,000 SF profit has proved that that effort was worth.

�Such trend � has declared Mr. Schmidheiny � will go on for other 20 to 30 years as Latin America and South East Asia will most likely develop more than other world areas�. In Europe, for instance, the situation is at saturation point and no big changes can be expected in a society that has fulfilled all its primary needs in terms of basic housing and infrastructures. Nevertheless Europe still constitutes a market worth 40% of the group global turnover.

On the 1998 operative result of the huge cement conglomerate has affected the Brazilian crisis and severe meteo conditions in the Old Continent.

The net profit has turned to be of 141.9 million SF which has convinced the board of directors to suggest paying a dividend of 20 SF per bearer share, and 4 for each registered share.

The encouraging result has been obtained even if the total turnover has not changed from 1997 to 1998: 11,265 billion SF vs. 11,268 last year.

04/05/1886 - The first, practical phonograph, better known as the gramophone, was patented on this day. We haven�t a clue as to what the first impractical phonograph was called...

04/05/1932 - Public Enemy Number One, Al Capone, was jailed on this day in the Atlanta Penitentiary � for tax evasion.

04/05/1929 - Audrey Hepburn was born (actress)

05/05/1818 - Karl Marx was born (socialist writer: Das Kapital, The Communist Manifesto; founder of communism)

05/05/1955 - West Germany became a sovereign state.

06/05/1951 - Dr. John Gorrie of Apalachicola, FL, patented the mechanical refrigerator.

06/05/1889 - The Universal Exposition opened in Paris, France this day, marking the dedication of the recently constructed Eiffel Tower. The exposition also was known for the display of the first automobile in Paris. No, it wasn�t a French auto. It was a German Mercedes-Benz, one of the world�s most luxurious automobiles.

06/05/1959 - The Pablo Picasso painting of a Dutch girl was sold for $154,000 in London. It was the highest price paid to that time for a painting by a living artist.

06/05/1856 - Sigmund Freud was born (psychiatrist)

06/05/1861 - Rabindranath Tagore was born (Nobel prize-winner: literature [1913]; Hindu poet, mystic, musical composer)

May, 6

The Kazakh Concert Hall. The �Turandot� opera by Pucini. 6.00. p.m.

The Kosteyev State National Museum. Exhibition of the works of S. Kalmykov, I. Itkind, V. Eifert, and Rudolf Nuriev�s painting.