Alcoa's Board Formalizes Limited Use of Independent Accounting Firm

    PITTSBURGH--April 19, 2002--Alcoa's Board of Directors today adopted a resolution formalizing the company's general practice of retaining an independent accounting firm only for audit, audit-related services, and acquisition and due diligence reviews.
    "We have an independent and open relationship with our auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and we will continue to strictly limit the non-audit work they perform for Alcoa. The action taken today by Alcoa's Board reaffirms our commitment to the highest standards in financial accountability and formally restricts the auditors from performing other services for the company," said Alcoa Chairman and CEO Alain Belda.
    Over the past three years, Alcoa has reduced the ratio of non-audit to audit fees from more than 2:1 in 1999 to almost 1:1 in 2001. According to the "Wall Street Journal," Alcoa's use of auditors for non-audit services was the fourth lowest of the Dow Industrials. In 2001, Alcoa paid PricewaterhouseCoopers $5.7 million for audit services and $6.9 million for other services, which are largely audit-related, including tax advice, preparation of tax returns, audits of benefit plans and advice on accounting matters.