Textron To Confirm Outlook at Salomon Smith Barney Global Industrial Manufacturing Conference

    PROVIDENCE, R.I.--March 1, 2001--Textron Inc. , in a presentation to investors at the Salomon Smith Barney 14th Annual Global Industrial Manufacturing Conference, today will confirm that the company continues to expect first quarter earnings per share before restructuring charges to be approximately $1.00. The company will also confirm that it continues to expect earnings per share before restructuring charges to be up by approximately 5% for full year 2001.
    The presentation at the Salomon Smith Barney conference by Lewis B. Campbell, chairman and chief executive officer of Textron Inc., will be webcast live on March 1, 2001 at 8:00 a.m. EST. The webcast can be accessed by visiting the Investor Relations page on Textron's website at www.textron.com. Replay access to the webcast will be available until Monday, March 5, 2001 at 5:00 p.m. EST.
    Textron Inc. (www.textron.com) is a $13 billion, global, multi-industry company with market-leading businesses in Aircraft, Automotive, Industrial Products, Fastening Systems and Finance. Textron has a workforce of 70,000 employees and major manufacturing facilities in 30 countries. Textron is among Fortune magazine's "Global Most Admired Companies" and Industry Week magazine's "Best Managed Companies."

    Forward-looking Information: Certain statements in this release and other oral and written statements made by Textron from time to time, are forward-looking statements, including those that discuss strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; or project revenues, income, returns or other financial measures. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the statements, including the following: (a) the extent to which Textron is able to implement and complete its restructuring plan (b) the extent to which Textron is able to successfully integrate recent acquisitions, (c) changes in worldwide economic and political conditions that impact interest and foreign exchange rates, (d) the occurrence of work stoppages and strikes at key facilities of Textron or Textron's customers or suppliers, (e) government funding and program approvals affecting products being developed or sold under government programs, (f) successful implementation of supply chain and e-procurement strategies, (g) the timing of certifications of new aircraft products, (h) the occurrence of a severe downturn in the economies in which Textron operates that could reduce demand for its products (i) the level of consumer demand for the vehicle models for which Textron supplies parts to automotive original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs"), (j) Textron's ability to offset, through cost reductions, raw material price increases and pricing pressure brought by OEM customers, and (k) Textron Financial's ability to maintain credit quality and control costs when entering new markets.