Russell Corporation Revises Expectations for Second Quarter

Russell Corporation Revises Expectations for Second Quarter 


ATLANTA, July 14  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Russell Corporation (NYSE:RML)
announced today that it expects fully diluted earnings per share for the second
quarter of 2005 to be between $0.12 and $0.14, which is below the Company's
previously issued earnings guidance.  The current Thomson First Call mean
estimate is $0.21 per share.

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The revised estimate of earnings is primarily the result of several short- term
operational issues and lower than anticipated reductions in costs.  At this
point, the Company does not anticipate being able to overcome the quarter's
earnings shortfall for the full year.

Management plans to comment further on the quarter and expectations for the
balance of the year in the Company's regularly scheduled second quarter
conference call on July 28, 2005.

Company-wide sales for the quarter were close to plan and increased 18 percent
to more than $342 million.  The sales gains were driven by acquisitions which,
as expected, had no material impact on earnings per share for the quarter.

The Activewear segment experienced a more than 10 percent sales increase for
the quarter.  The gains were led by the Artwear channel, which experienced a 15
percent unit increase.  Artwear was not able to meet all of the sales demands
in the second quarter which required a rapid increase in capacity, resulting in
substantial excess training expenses, start-up costs and higher costs from new
contractors being brought on line.  Furthermore, there was a strong, continuing
shift to hooded sweatshirts which created additional overtime and training
costs associated with this change. While taking aggressive actions to rectify
these problems, management anticipates certain operational issues may not be
completely resolved until later in the year.

Excluding the acquisitions made in 2004, the Sporting Goods segment experienced
sales declines of approximately 13 percent versus the previous year.  Sales
gains in Russell Athletic's base business were not able to offset the expected
declines versus a year ago related to the absence of the Major League Baseball
business and the discontinuance of a Discus branded program at retail.

Mossy Oak experienced significantly lower sales in the quarter, primarily due
to a major shift in timing of fall shipments and also a reduction of a major,
lower-priced program, as previously discussed.

Chairman and CEO Jack Ward said "We are disappointed in the quarter's results,
which were impacted by several operational issues, including not being able to
lower our overall costs for the quarter as planned.  We believe these results
are primarily due to short term execution problems, which we have already begun
to address.  We intend to re-examine every aspect of our businesses for further
growth opportunities and cost reductions." Ward concluded, "Despite these
short-term disappointments, we continue to feel positive about our long-term
strategic direction as outlined earlier this year."

A conference call is scheduled for July 28, 2005, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
The second quarter financials will be released earlier that same day. To
listen, please call the conference call line at [phone], domestically,
and [phone], internationally, ten minutes prior to the scheduled start
time and use conference ID number 7767816.  This conference call will also be
broadcast live on the Internet.  A link to the broadcast can be found on the
Investor Relations homepage of the Company's website at
http://www.russellcorp.com/.

About Russell Corporation

Russell Corporation is a leading branded athletic and sporting goods company
marketing athletic apparel, uniforms, footwear and equipment for a wide variety
of sports, outdoor and fitness activities.  The Company's major brands include
Russell Athletic(R), JERZEES(R), Spalding(R), Brooks(R), Huffy Sports(R),
Bike(R), Moving Comfort(R), AAI(R) and Mossy Oak(R). The Company's common stock
is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RML and its web site
address is http://www.russellcorp.com/.

Forward-Looking Statement

This Press Release includes certain "forward-looking" statements (as defined by
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act")) that describe
our beliefs concerning future business conditions, prospects, growth
opportunities, and the outlook for the Company based upon currently available
information. Wherever possible, we have identified these statements by words
such as "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "expect," "continue," "could,"
"may," "plan," "project," "predict," "will" and similar expressions. We include
such statements because we believe it is important to communicate our future
expectations to our shareholders, and we therefore make such statements in
reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of the Act. All statements other than
statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed
forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, any projections of
sales and earnings. These forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions
that we believe are reasonable. Factors that could cause our actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to: (a) risks associated with our
long-term business strategies, including growth opportunities; (b) our ability
to effect cost reductions and resolve current operational issues; and (c) other
risk factors listed in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission from time to time. We undertake no obligation to revise the
forward-looking statements included in this Press Release to reflect any future
events or circumstances. Our actual results, performance or achievements could
differ materially from the results expressed or implied by any forward-looking
statements contained in this Press Release. 

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DATASOURCE: Russell Corporation



CONTACT:  Financial, Roger Holliday, [phone], or Media, Nancy

Young, [phone], both of Russell Corporation



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

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