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Fleetwood Expects Fourth Quarter Earnings To Be Below Analysts' Estimates

24 April 2000

Fleetwood Expects Fourth Quarter Earnings To Be Below Analysts' Estimates

    RIVERSIDE, Calif., April 20 Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc.
(NYSE: FLE) today indicated that earnings for its fourth quarter and fiscal
year that will end April 30, 2000 will be below the prior year, and will fall
short of analysts' expectations, primarily due to difficult market conditions.
    Fleetwood President Nelson W. Potter stated, "It now appears that our
fourth quarter earnings will fall approximately 30 to 40 percent below the
consensus estimate of $0.52 per diluted share.  Diluted earnings per share for
the current year should be in the range of $2.35 to $2.40 compared to $2.94 in
the prior year," Potter said.
    Potter added, "On March 1, we communicated that the fourth quarter would
be a challenging period for Fleetwood, based on the expected continuing
weakness in the market for manufactured housing.  Business conditions in the
manufactured housing industry have since weakened further because of a less
favorable financing environment for retail buyers.  In Fleetwood's fourth
quarter, the housing weakness was compounded by a slowdown in recreational
vehicle sales and margin pressure caused by changes in Fleetwood's RV product
mix.  These unfavorable RV developments are largely concentrated in the motor
home business," Potter said.
    Commenting further, Potter said, "Approximately $0.05 per share of the
expected fourth quarter shortfall is related to a non-recurring charge to
bolster reserves for self-insured health benefits."
    "The retail financing environment for manufactured housing, which has been
eroding for over a year, became even more difficult during Fleetwood's fourth
quarter," Potter said.  "The combination of reduced financing availability,
due to more stringent lender imposed credit standards, and higher interest
rates, has eliminated many potential buyers.  Encouragingly, retail traffic
and buyer interest continue at a healthy pace.  The challenge is qualifying
these prospective buyers for home loans."
    "Consumer demand for recreational vehicles has been robust in recent
months, but the rate of growth has been slowing," Potter remarked.  "To put
this into perspective, calendar 1999 was the strongest year for the RV
industry in over twenty years.  Overall, Fleetwood motor home retail sales in
the fiscal fourth quarter have been fairly comparable to the prior-year
period.  However, we have recently observed some regional pockets of softening
demand, and have already adjusted our production schedules and shipping rates
accordingly to avoid building potential excess retail inventory.  We believe
that RV retail inventories have now reached levels commensurate with consumer
demand, which means that our factory shipments going forward will depend
entirely on retail sales."
    Potter concluded by saying, "Despite current market difficulties, we
remain optimistic about the long-term prospects for both of our core
businesses.  As the market leader with 50 years of experience in manufactured
housing and recreational vehicles, we are in a strong position to take full
advantage of the projected favorable demographic trends that will drive the
future growth of these industries."
    Fleetwood expects to report preliminary fourth quarter sales information
on May 3 and final sales and earnings results on May 31.
    Fleetwood is the nation's largest manufacturer of recreational vehicles
and a leading producer and retailer of manufactured housing.

    This press release contains certain forward-looking statements and
information based on the beliefs of the Company's management as well as
assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company's
management.  Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with
respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and
assumptions, including risk factors identified in the Company's SEC filings.
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.