Fleetwood Reports Preliminary Revenues for Second Quarter 2005

Fleetwood Reports Preliminary Revenues for Second Quarter 2005



RIVERSIDE, Calif., Oct. 28  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fleetwood Enterprises,
Inc. (NYSE:FLE), one of the nation's leading manufacturers of recreational
vehicles and a leading producer and retailer of manufactured housing, announced
today its preliminary sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2005, which ended
on October 24, 2004.

Company revenues improved 6 percent in the second quarter to approximately $713
million compared with $675 million last year, due to sales increases in the
Housing Group's wholesale division and the RV Group's motor home division. For
the first six months, sales increased 9 percent to $1.44 billion compared with
$1.32 billion in fiscal 2004.

Overall recreational vehicle sales for the second quarter were flat compared to
a year ago at $450 million.  Motor home sales reached $302 million, a 10
percent increase over the prior year's second quarter. Sales of towables
declined 16 percent to $149 million from $176 million in the prior year. 
Towable sales include revenues of the recently consolidated travel and folding
trailer operations, which were previously reported separately.

Manufactured housing sales in the second quarter increased 14 percent to
approximately $245 million compared with $214 million a year ago.  Housing
revenues included $214 million of wholesale factory sales, and $65 million of
retail sales, before elimination of intercompany sales of $34 million.
Wholesale grew 18 percent and retail declined 7 percent compared with last
year's $181 million and $70 million, respectively, before elimination of
intercompany sales of $37 million.

"We are pleased to report our fourth straight quarter of growth in Housing
Group sales and continued growth in revenues for the motor home division,"
Fleetwood's President and CEO Edward B. Caudill said.  "We achieved solid
top-line results in these segments despite the negative impact of the
hurricanes and related extreme weather conditions in the Southeast on both of
our industries, which was somewhat offset by emergency-related orders for
manufactured homes and travel trailers.

"The RV industry has recently seen some signs of retail slowing," Caudill
continued.  "We think that this is a temporary condition that is partly
weather-related and partly the result of weakened consumer confidence.  We
continue to believe the fundamentals of the RV industry are sound, and are
backed by powerful demographic trends.  To manage the short-term fluctuation,
we offered selected incentives to reduce our finished goods inventory.  Going
forward, we will modify our production as necessary to correspond to wholesale
and retail demand.

"Despite these challenges during our second quarter, we still expect to record
a net profit that will be an improvement over the prior year," Caudill
concluded.  "However, we now believe the earnings improvement will be less than
previously anticipated."

Fleetwood will file its second quarter Form 10-Q after market close on Friday,
December 3, 2004, and will hold its conference call to discuss earnings on
Monday, December 6, 2004.  The Company confirms its intent to continue to defer
distributions on its 6% convertible subordinated debentures, which would
otherwise be due in mid-November.

About Fleetwood

Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc., is one of the nation's largest producers of
recreational vehicles, from motor homes to travel and folding trailers, and is
a leader in the building, retailing and financing of 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 and manufactured housing plants, retail
home centers, and supply subsidiary plants.  For more information, visit the
Company's website at http://www.fleetwood.com/.

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 risks
and uncertainties include, without limitation, the cyclical nature of both the
manufactured housing and recreational vehicle industries; ongoing weakness in
the manufactured housing market; continued acceptance of the Company's
products; the potential impact on demand for Fleetwood's products as a result
of changes in consumer confidence levels; the effect of global tensions on
consumer confidence; expenses and uncertainties associated with the
introduction and manufacturing of new products; the future availability of
manufactured housing retail financing, as well as housing and RV wholesale
financing; exposure to interest rate and market changes affecting certain of
the Company's assets and liabilities; availability and pricing of raw
materials; 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 Company's ability to obtain financing needed in order to execute its
business strategies.

For more information please contact: Lyle Larkin, Vice President, Treasurer,
[phone], or Kathy A. Munson, Director-Investor Relations,
[phone], both of Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. 

DATASOURCE: Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc.



CONTACT:  Lyle Larkin, Vice President, Treasurer, [phone], or

Kathy A. Munson, Director-Investor Relations, [phone], both of

Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc.



Web site:  http://www.fleetwood.com/ 

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