NOVA Chemicals reports on year-end results, anticipates improvement

04/05/06, Pittsburgh, PA - NOVA Chemicals’ President and Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey M. Lipton, today described positive momentum in NOVA Chemicals’ business in 2006 after reporting disappointing year-end results for 2005. Speaking at the company’s annual shareholder meeting, Lipton discussed a series of unusual events during the past year that negatively impacted after-tax net income by U.S. $240 million. NOVA Chemicals reported a net loss of $104 million in 2005, compared to net income of $252 million in 2004.

“NOVA Chemicals is poised to improve results for 2006 and 2007 as inventory levels throughout the chain remain low, operating rates are high, and fundamental demand continues to build,” said Lipton. “We also expect to deliver significant value to our customers and shareholders through growth of our Performance Products portfolio.”

In other agenda items at the annual meeting, the shareholders:

* elected the following directors, all of whom were previously serving as directors, for a one-year term: Jerald A. Blumberg, F. Peter Boer, Jacques Bougie, Joanne V. Creighton, Robert E. Dineen, Jr., L. Yves Fortier, Kerry L. Hawkins, Jeffrey M. Lipton, Arnold M. Ludwick, J.E. Newall, Janice G. Rennie and James M. Stanford.
* approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young LLP as auditors of the company.

NOVA Chemicals produces plastics and chemicals that are essential to everyday life. Our employees develop and manufacture materials for customers worldwide that produce consumer, industrial and packaging products. We work with a commitment to Responsible Care® to ensure effective health, safety, security and environmental stewardship. Company shares are traded on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges as NCX.

Visit NOVA Chemicals on the Internet at www.novachemicals.com.

Forward-Looking Information
The information in this news release contains forward-looking statements, including the statements that NOVA Chemicals is poised to improve results for 2006 and 2007 and that NOVA Chemicals expects to deliver significant value to its customers and its shareholders through growth of its Performance Products portfolio. By their nature, forward-looking statements require NOVA Chemicals to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is significant risk that predictions, forecasts, conclusions and projections will not prove to be accurate, that NOVA Chemicals’ assumptions may not be correct and that actual results may differ materially from such predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections. Some of the risks that could affect NOVA Chemicals’ future results and could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements include: uncertainties regarding commodity chemicals price levels (which depend, among other things, on supply and demand for these products, capacity utilization and substitution rates between these products and competing products); feedstock availability and prices; operating costs; the impact of competition; changes in customer demand, including customer acceptance of NOVA Chemicals’ Performance Products; uncertainties associated with the North American, South American, European, and Asian economies and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the publicly filed disclosure documents and securities commissions reports of NOVA Chemicals. NOVA Chemicals’ forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. In addition, the forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this news release, and except as required by applicable law, NOVA Chemicals undertakes no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise.


Responsible Care® is a registered trademark of the Canadian Chemical Producers Association (CCPA) in Canada and is a registered service mark of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) in the United States.

Contact Information

Greg Wilkinson

Vice President, Public Affairs

NOVA Chemicals

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