Fleetwood Sales Drop 40% in Fourth Quarter

Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. shares fell 7.5% after the largest U.S. maker of recreational vehicles said sales declined 40% in its fourth quarter ended Sunday. The shares dropped 95 cents to close at $11.75 on the New York Stock Exchange. The Riverside-based company’s fiscal fourth-quarter sales fell to $545 million from $906 million in the year-earlier period, Fleetwood said. Revenue fell 42% to $289 million for recreational vehicles and 37% to $247 million for manufactured housing. “Both our businesses experienced a stunning reversal compared to fiscal year 2000,” said Nelson Potter, the company’s president and chief executive. Full-year sales fell by one-third to $2.53 billion from a record high $3.77 billion. Fleetwood, which will report final results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year later this month, closed four housing plants and a travel-trailer factory last year. The company said in March that it expected to report a fourth-quarter loss. Recreational vehicle demand fell as interest rates and gasoline prices rose, and manufactured housing was hurt by high inventories, interest rates, tougher lending standards and competition from repossessed homes.