Fleetwood Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2006 Results

RIVERSIDE, Calif., Dec. 8, 2005 -- Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. , one of the nation's leading producers of recreational vehicles and manufactured housing, announced today its results for the second quarter and first half of fiscal 2006 ended October 30, 2005. Consolidated revenues for the quarter were $629.5 million, down 2.5 percent from $645.9 million in last year's second quarter. Income from continuing operations totaled $3.8 million or $.07 per diluted share in the current period, compared with $15.3 million or $0.25 per diluted share in the prior year.

The Company incurred a net loss, including discontinued operations, of $1.9 million, or $.03 per diluted share, compared with net income in last year's second quarter of $8.1 million, or $0.14 per diluted share. Discontinued operations, which include the manufactured housing retail and financial services businesses that were recently sold, incurred a loss of $5.7 million or $0.10 per diluted share in the second quarter, compared to a loss of $7.2 million or $0.11 per diluted share in the comparable period last year. The majority of this quarter's loss from discontinued operations related to the retail business, which was sold midway through the fiscal quarter, as well as ongoing general and administrative expenses. The current quarter loss includes severance and related costs totaling $0.8 million, reduced by a gain on sale from insurance assets of $2.4 million.

"The quarter's results show marked sequential improvement over the first quarter," said Elden L. Smith, Fleetwood's president and chief executive officer. "We are pleased with the progress in our restructuring plan and with the boost provided by significant orders for disaster relief shelter received by both our travel trailer and manufactured housing operations. On the other hand, the slower market for motor homes negatively impacted our results. Declining consumer confidence, driven by higher fuel prices and rising interest rates, has led to an industry decline of approximately 8 percent in motor home retail sales so far in calendar 2005. In turn, this caused dealers to reduce their inventories, and both factors contributed to a slowing of the Company's sales. Last year, dealer inventories were still increasing, exaggerating the year-over-year decline in wholesale shipments."

For the first six months of fiscal 2006, consolidated revenues declined 4.5 percent to $1.25 billion compared with $1.31 billion for the first half of last year. RV Group sales were down 12.7 percent while Housing Group sales improved 4.8 percent. The net loss in the first half of fiscal 2006 was $31.5 million or $0.56 per diluted share compared with net income of $13.7 million, or $0.25 per diluted share in the first six months of fiscal 2005. Loss from continuing operations for the first six months of fiscal 2006 was $13.6 million compared to income of $27.8 million last year.

Housing Group Results

The Housing Group generated operating income of $14.2 million in the second quarter, an improvement of 21 percent compared with $11.7 million of operating income in the prior year second quarter. Quarterly revenues for the Group grew 5 percent to $225.0 million from $213.9 million in last year's second quarter. The second quarter included revenues of approximately $30 million from the sale of homes for disaster relief, compared with approximately $44 million in the same quarter last year.

For the first half of the fiscal year, Housing Group revenues increased 4.8 percent to $429.3 million from $409.6 million in the prior year. Operating income climbed to $19.2 million for the first six months, compared with $17.8 million in the first six months of last year.

"The longer-term outlook for our Housing Group is quite positive," Smith said. "Beyond the immediate need for emergency housing, we expect to see increased demand for two to three years for replacement permanent housing throughout the areas affected by this season's hurricanes. These areas are traditionally strong markets for manufactured housing. Because the bulk orders from FEMA result in extended production runs, we are able to achieve enhanced labor efficiencies that directly benefit our gross margin."

RV Group Results

The RV Group incurred an operating loss of $0.7 million for the quarter on revenues of $393.5 million, compared to operating income of $8.6 million for the same quarter of the prior year, on revenues of $450.3 million. In the first six months of fiscal 2006, the Group reported an operating loss of $5.8 million on revenues of $816.7 million, compared with operating income of $24.2 million on revenues of $936.0 million in the comparable period last year. The primary reason for the deterioration in operating results was the 13 percent decline in revenues in both the second quarter and first half, largely due to slowing motor home sales, similar to that experienced throughout the industry.

In the second quarter, the operating performance in both travel trailers and folding trailers was significantly improved, but was more than offset by the decline in the motor home division's operating results. The travel trailer division's operating loss narrowed to $3.8 million compared with $6.7 million in the prior year period, while operating income for the folding trailer division improved to $0.3 million from $0.1 million. The motor home division's operating income dropped to $2.9 million compared with the prior year's $15.1 million.

"Our travel trailer operations in the second quarter benefited from the sale of $30 million in FEMA units, which compares to $5 million in similar units last year," Smith said. "As with the Housing Group, the large FEMA orders allow for improved labor efficiency, positively impacting travel trailer gross margin. In addition, because of the size of the FEMA trailer orders, we will be building these units throughout our fiscal third quarter and into the fourth quarter, after ramping up production more than midway through the second quarter. The timing of this production will provide an excellent bridge for both the Company and our dealers, because we can maintain a high production level without building and carrying inventory during the winter season. At these higher levels of production, we can then quickly build to meet our dealers' orders for the spring selling season.

"At last week's national RV show in Louisville, Kentucky, we were encouraged by the dealers' cautious optimism regarding next spring's selling season," Smith continued. "Even more importantly, our products were met with enthusiasm. We had new floor plans on display that were directly targeted to respond to dealer and consumer requests. We were also pleased to introduce our unique full-wall-slide technology, which was successfully introduced in our Pace Arrow product in last year's show, with updated floor plans in three more of our best-selling motor home brands. And 12 of the 24 travel trailers displayed were designed to compete against the most popular floor plans in the industry. In addition, we launched lighter-weight versions of several of our top brands."

Corporate Events

Subsequent to the end of the quarter, the Company completed a direct placement of 7 million common shares, raising net proceeds of approximately $66 million. The proceeds will be used to pay deferred distributions plus interest on the Company's 6% convertible trust preferred securities on the next scheduled payment date of February 15, 2006, in the amount of $58.8 million. The remaining proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.

Corporate Outlook

"Due in large part to the FEMA orders, we expect that sales in our third quarter, which is usually seasonally weak, will approach second-quarter levels and will significantly outpace last year's third quarter," Smith concluded. "Further, we anticipate that results from continuing operations will be at similar levels to those of the second quarter. The expected reduction in the loss from discontinued operations should enable us to achieve our previously indicated sequential improvement in our results at the net income line. We believe that long-term consumer demographics, our leadership position in both of our industries, and our ongoing corporate revitalization will enable us to post consistently better results over time."

About Fleetwood

Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. is a leading producer of recreational vehicles and manufactured homes. This Fortune 1000 company, headquartered in Riverside, Calif., is dedicated to providing quality, innovative products that offer exceptional value to its customers. Fleetwood operates facilities strategically located throughout the nation, including recreational vehicle, manufactured housing and supply subsidiary plants. For more information, visit the Company's website at www.fleetwood.com.