
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 2, 1991                   TAG: 9104020153
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TULTEX SEES UPTURN IN LAST HALF OF 1991

Tultex Corp., the Martinsville fleecewear maker, said it is projecting declines in both sales and earnings for the first half of 1991 but expects increases to follow in the last half of the year. The outlook, released Monday, was made last week by Tultex chairman John M. Franck to investment analysts in New York.

Franck predicted that Tultex sales for 1991 will approach last year's level of $355.1 million and that earnings per share may be slightly less. He said earnings may be in the lower end of the range of 70 cents to $1 a share, as estimated by analysts. Last year, the company earned $23.5 million, or 85 cents a share.

Demand has been very slow in the first half as customers have ordered "both later and less," Franck said. However, retail stores are selling off inventories rapidly, so the pipelines should be clear late this spring, setting the stage for substantial orders in the fall if the economy and the weather cooperate, he said. - Staff report

by CNB