---

Briggs & Stratton Forecasts Lower Q1 Revenues And Earnings

15 September 2000

Briggs & Stratton Corporation Forecasts Lower First Quarter Revenues And Earnings

    MILWAUKEE, Sept. 15 Briggs & Stratton Corporation
First quarter net sales for fiscal 2001 will be down between 35% and 40%
on engine unit volume decreases of approximately 35%.  This means that the
Company will probably experience a first quarter loss per share between $0.13
and $0.18, in contrast to the current First Call consensus estimate of
earnings per share of $0.14.  The Company believes that the decreased volume
in the first quarter will be recovered in the second and third quarters,
hence, we continue to believe that full-year earnings per share will be
similar to fiscal 2000 results.
    In its fiscal 2000 Fourth Quarter Earnings Release, Briggs & Stratton
Corporation did state that its fiscal 2001 first quarter results would be well
below the prior year because concerns of equipment manufacturers and retailers
about potential engine shortages appeared to have disappeared.  Fiscal 2001
first quarter shipments are projected to return to lower, more historical
levels.  The Company believed that the first quarter revenue drop from the
prior year would be closer to 25%.  Greater than expected engine and finished
product inventories at generator manufacturers caused by slow sales at the
retail level is the primary reason for the revised, lower revenue and earnings
expectations.
    
                            BRIGGS & STRATTON CORPORATION

                            James E. Brenn
                            Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer