Textron To Confirm Outlook at Merrill Lynch Global Industries Conference

    PROVIDENCE, R.I.--May 22, 2001--Textron Inc. , in a presentation to investors at the Merrill Lynch Global Industries Conference, tomorrow will confirm that the company continues to expect second quarter earnings per share before special charges and restructuring-related expenses to be approximately $1.10. The company will also confirm that it continues to expect earnings per share before special charges and restructuring-related expenses to be approximately the same as last year, which were $4.65.
    Slides of the presentation at the Merrill Lynch conference by Ted R. French, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Textron Inc., will be available on Textron's website at www.textron.com from May 23 through May 30, 2001.
    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 plans (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.