It’s hard to keep up on all the news effecting our industry.  While some of this is a few days old (sorry, I’ve been “on the road” I thought you might find these two news releases very interesting. 
 
The first, regarding Fleetwood, marks another step in the restructuring of this company.  Apparently the new management team intends to have the company more closely resemble the Fleetwood of old.  I’m told Charley Lott is a no-nonsense guy who will do whatever it takes to turn things around.  Everyone is waiting to see who might purchase all or part of Fleetwood Retail Corp.  Many think it is a buyer not typically associated with manufactured home retailing, but yet someone currently in the industry.  Time will tell.
 
The second article is regarding Bombardier Inc., a company deeply involved in financing manufactured home retailer inventory, and at one time a leader in MH consumer financing.  Their sale to GE may or may not be big news, but it certainly has the attention of manufacturers and retailers.  Buyer GE Commercial Finance has been financing MH inventory for a few years now, and if you’re as old as me you can remember when General Electric Credit Corporation was the largest “mobile home” lender in the nation (circa 1972-1986, rough guess).  In the Pacific Northwest veteran Roger Corey was Regional Manager of GECC with veteran Pete Bleth as Operations Manager.  If you didn’t do business with those guys you weren’t “in the loop”.  We will closely monitor whether GE remains committed to our industry and let you know what we find out.
 
Retailers and manufacturers are reporting a slight increase in new home sales.  In the land-lease community business we are experiencing slow but modest improvement in some regions, absolutely nothing in other areas.  Overall, the further you get from Portland (up and down the I-5 corridor) the better it gets.  My observation is that the suburban and rural markets are not as adversely effected by competition from high-volume national home and condominium developers as we are in the urban and inter-city areas.
 
I hope you find the following news releases helpful.  These are from www.thestreet.com
 
 
Charley Lott Named to Lead Fleetwood's Housing Business
 PR Newswire
RIVERSIDE, Calif., April 18, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. , one of the nation's leading producers of recreational vehicles and manufactured housing, today announced that Charles E. Lott has been named to the open position of executive vice president - Housing Group.
Lott, 57, previously served as the eastern region vice president of Fleetwood's Housing Group until his retirement in 2002. He originally joined the Company in 1970 and held positions of increasing responsibility within the Company's Housing Group. He served as the executive in charge of the Eastern region from 1997 until his retirement.
"Charley is a well known and respected leader in the housing industry," Elden Smith, president and chief executive officer of Fleetwood, said. "He brings a wealth of knowledge back to Fleetwood, and we believe his experience and strong leadership skills will enable him to make an immediate positive impact. I have tremendous respect for Charley and was pleased to find that he was eager to rejoin Fleetwood."
During his tenure with Fleetwood, Lott was active in the various housing industry associations, and has remained close to the industry since his retirement. Lott holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama.
 
 
Bombardier Sells Financing Unit to GE for $1.4 Bln (Update1)
April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Bombardier Inc., the world's third- largest commercial-plane maker, agreed to sell its financing business for equipment such as boats and snowmobiles to General Electric Co. for $1.4 billion to pay down debt.
GE Commercial Finance said today it also will assume $1 billion in debt. The Bombardier business has about $2.2 billion in assets and provides financing for all-terrain and recreational vehicles, as well as manufactured-housing dealers.
Selling the business will allow Montreal-based Bombardier to cut debt by $1.6 billion. The company suspended its annual dividend last month for the first time in 32 years to conserve cash after demand from airlines slumped, and its debt rating fell to below investment grade in November. Bombardier, which is seeking funds to build its biggest plane ever, had long-term debt of $6.9 billion as of Jan. 31.
"It's good that they are cutting debt to improve the balance sheet,'' said Andre d'Amours, a fund manager at MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier Inc. in Quebec City, which oversees about $2 billion, including Bombardier shares. "It will also free up money for their new project.''
Bombardier last month began marketing the so-called C Series plane, which would seat more than 100 passengers and cost about $2.1 billion to develop. It expects to decide later this year whether to build the aircraft.
Bombardier will get cash proceeds of $825 million after paying obligations related to the unit, spokeswoman Isabelle Rondeau said.
Citigroup advised Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE on the transaction, which is expected to close as early as this quarter. It paid about a $200 million premium to the book value of Bombardier's asset portfolio, GE spokesman Stephen White said.
S&P
Standard & Poor's today removed Bombardier from CreditWatch, reducing the probability that the company's rating will be lowered. The outlook is negative. Bombardier's bonds are rated BB by S&P and Ba2 by Moody's Investors Service, both two levels below investment grade.
"Although Bombardier's operating margins remain weak, they appear to have stabilized at levels that support the current ratings,'' S&P analyst Kenton Freitag wrote in a statement. "Nevertheless, we remain concerned about the dismal condition of the U.S. airline industry and the potential for further disruptions in the industry to lead to deterioration in Bombardier's financial profile.''
Bombardier last month reported a net loss of $85 million for fiscal 2005, unchanged from a year earlier and its third straight annual loss. Revenue rose 2.2 percent to $15.8 billion.
280 Employees
The finance business will be folded into Stamford, Connecticut-based GE Commercial Finance's Vendor Finance unit, which will take on 280 Bombardier employees in Colchester, Vermont, and Brossard, Quebec, the companies said. It's too early to tell if jobs will be cut, White said.
GE Commercial Finance, with more than $230 billion in assets, has been building its vendor finance business, agreeing to buy Deutsche Bank AG's U.S. leasing unit for $2.9 billion in cash and debt in 2002 and Aegon NV's Transamerica finance unit for $5.4 billion in 2003. Today's purchase gives General Electric a broader array of smaller dealers, White said.
Higher Risk
Bombardier Capital began making loans in 1997 to consumers and prefabricated-house builders -- riskier borrowers than its transportation-equipment customers -- to emulate GE's successful foray into lending. Between fiscal 1998 and fiscal 2001, such loans quintupled to about C$3.68 billion ($2.94 billion), or 28 percent, of Bombardier Capital's assets under management.
Bombardier, also the world's biggest train-equipment maker, decided to wind down loans to consumers and homebuilders in 2001 after the business crimped third-quarter earnings that year by C$394 million.
The company's widely traded Class B shares rose 13 Canadian cents to C$2.43 at 12:48 p.m. in Toronto Stock Exchange composite trading. General Electric gained 45 cents to $36.20 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Airbus SAS and Boeing Co. are the world's top two commercial- jet makers, respectively.
 

Greg Harmon - President
Commonwealth Real Estate Services
E-mail: greg@cwres.com
Telephone 503.244.2300 Ext. 101