Fleetwood Reports Preliminary Revenues For Third Quarter and First Nine Months Of Fiscal Year 2003

    RIVERSIDE, Calif., Jan. 30 -- Fleetwood
Enterprises, Inc. , the nation's largest manufacturer of
recreational vehicles and a leading producer and retailer of manufactured
housing, today announced preliminary sales for the third quarter and first
nine months of fiscal 2003, ended January 26, 2003.
    Company revenues fell 6 percent in the third quarter to approximately
$493 million compared with $522 million last year. Quarterly sales improved 11
percent for the RV Group, while revenues for the Housing Group declined 27
percent overall, with the manufacturing division down 28 percent and retail
off 19 percent. For the first nine months, sales improved overall by 4
percent, with recreational vehicles up 28 percent and manufactured housing
declining 21 percent.
    Recreational vehicle sales for the third quarter rose to $309 million
compared with $278 million a year ago. Motor home revenues improved by 15
percent from the prior year to $211 million, while travel trailer sales were
up 4 percent to $71 million and folding trailer sales increased 1 percent to
$27 million.
    Sales of recreational vehicles for the first nine months of fiscal year
2003 totaled $1.1 billion, a 28 percent improvement over the prior year. Motor
home sales were up 37 percent to $670 million, and travel trailers increased
16 percent to $310 million. Folding trailer sales improved 14 percent to
$96 million.
    "While our RV sales continue to improve on a year-over-year basis, the
momentum has slowed," Fleetwood's President and CEO Edward B. Caudill said.
"We believe this is due to dealer caution in light of current world events
and, in particular, the international situations in Iraq and Venezuela. This
has resulted in postponement of some deliveries. We remain confident that the
wide range of new, attractive products in our current offering puts us in a
good position, once tensions ease, to add to the revenue growth that we have
been experiencing, particularly in Class A motor homes. The introduction of a
new lineup of travel trailers this quarter has increased our ultimate
potential for sales growth but has also caused us to incur some inefficiencies
and higher short-term costs to support a ramp up of production. Meanwhile, we
are working to strike a balance in production throughout the RV Group so that
we have an appropriate level of inventory to support the anticipated retail
season."
    Third quarter sales of manufactured housing were down 27 percent to
approximately $173 million compared with $236 million a year ago. Housing
revenues include wholesale factory sales of $114 million to independent
retailers and retail sales of $59 million from Company-operated sales centers.
This compares with wholesale sales of $163 million and retail sales of
$73 million last year, for declines of 30 and 19 percent, respectively. Gross
manufactured housing revenue dropped 28 percent to approximately $145 million,
including intercompany sales of $31 million to Company-operated retail stores.
    Manufactured housing sales for the first nine months of fiscal 2003 were
down 21 percent from the prior year to $639 million, including wholesale
factory sales of $437 million to independent retailers and retail sales of
$202 million from Fleetwood's retail operations. Gross manufactured housing
revenue for the first nine months was down 19 percent to $532 million,
including intercompany sales of $96 million to Company-operated retail stores.
    "The manufactured housing industry is facing the most difficult financing
environment in its history," Caudill said. "It is clear from the performance
of our various competitors that having a well-run, carefully managed captive
finance subsidiary is a key to profitability in this industry at this time.
While we have begun to participate in retail financing through HomeOne Credit
Corp., it is too early in the process for us to see a significant impact.
Meanwhile, with the exception of only five months, the industry has seen year-
over-year declines in shipments for the past 44 months, and we expect this
negative trend to continue at least through the third quarter of calendar year
2003. It is an extremely challenging environment in which to operate.
    "As previously announced, the Company expects to lose money in the third
quarter, but the short-term uncertainty in the RV market and the continued
deterioration in manufactured housing finance have exacerbated the seasonal
negatives. Consequently, we expect to announce a greater-than-anticipated loss
when our results are released in about five weeks, and our previous
expectation that we would return to profitability in the fourth quarter is now
in doubt."
    The Company confirmed its intent to pay in cash the distributions due in
mid-February on the Company's 9.5% preferred securities and, as it has
previously indicated, to continue to defer distributions on its 6% preferred
securities.

    This press release contains certain forward-looking statements and
information based on the beliefs of Fleetwood's management as well as
assumptions made by, and information currently available to, Fleetwood's
management. Such statements reflect the current views of Fleetwood with
respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and
assumptions, including risk factors identified in Fleetwood's 10-K and other
SEC filings. These risk factors include, without limitation, the cyclical
nature of both the manufactured housing and recreational vehicle industries;
ongoing weakness in the manufactured housing market; the potential impact on
demand for our products as a result of declining consumer confidence; the
effect of international tensions on consumer confidence; continued acceptance
of the Company's products; expenses and uncertainties associated with the
introduction of new products; the availability of manufactured housing
wholesale and retail financing in the future; changes in retail inventory
levels in the manufactured housing and recreational vehicle industries;
competitive pricing pressures; the ability to attract and retain quality
dealers, executive officers and other personnel; and the ability to obtain the
financing we need in order to execute our business strategy. Actual results,
events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as
of the date hereof. Fleetwood undertakes no obligation to release publicly the
result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made
to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events.

    For further information please contact Lyle Larkin, Vice President and
Treasurer, +1-909-351-3535, or Kathy Munson, Director-Investor Relations,
+1-909-351-3650.