15th February 2002 Number: 10/02 HIGH COURT ALLOWS UTAH TAX APPEAL BHP Billiton Limited today announced the Australian High Court has allowed by consent its appeal against the majority decision of the Full Federal Court, which was handed down in favour of the Australian Tax Office on 18 October 2000. The dispute concerned the deductibility of financing costs paid to the General Electric Company in connection with BHP Billiton Limited's acquisition of the Utah Group in the early 1980's, and the validity of a related assessment. As a result of the High Court order, an amount of US$85 million (A$166 million) will be refunded to BHP Billiton Limited, together with associated interest. This amount had previously been paid by BHP Billiton Limited and recorded as a non-current asset, pending resolution of the dispute. Further information can be found on our Internet site: http://www.bhpbilliton.com Australia Dr Robert Porter, Investor Relations Tel: +61 3 9609 3540 Mobile: +61 419 587 456 mailto:Robert.Porter@bhpbilliton.com Mandy Frostick, Media Relations Tel: +61 3 9609 4157 Mobile: +61 419 546 245 mailto:Mandy.J.Frostick@bhpbilliton.com United States Francis McAllister, Investor Relations Tel: +1 713 961 8625 Mobile: +1 713 480 3699 mailto:Francis.R.McAllister@bhpbilliton.com United Kingdom/South Africa Michael Campbell, Investor & Media Relations Tel: +27 11 376 3360 Mobile: +27 82 458 2587 mailto:Michael.J.Campbell@bhpbilliton.com Ariane Gentil, Manager Communications Tel: +44 20 7747 3977 Mobile: +44 7881 518 715 mailto:Ariane.Gentil@bhpbilliton.com BHP Billiton Limited ABN 49 004 028 077 Registered in Australia Registered Office: 600 Bourke Street Melbourne Victoria 3000 Telephone +61 3 9609 3333 Facsimile +61 3 9609 3015 BHP Billiton Plc Registration number 3196209 Registered in England and Wales Registered Office: 1-3 Strand London WC2N 5HA United Kingdom Telephone +44 20 7747 3800 Facsimile +44 20 7747 3900 A member of the BHP Billiton group which is headquartered in Australia