Centex Homes Renews Commitment to Nature Conservancy Mission to Preserve Natural Lands and Habitat.

Business Editors

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 4, 2000

Centex Homes, one of the nation's leading residential home builders, announced today it has renewed its annual commitment to The Nature Conservancy, a leading nonprofit environmental organization that promotes the preservation of natural habitats and ecological resources.

Centex Homes' first year commitment, which ended March 31, is expected to result in approximately $600,000 in donations to support the mission of the Arlington, Va.-based Nature Conservancy. Centex Homes expects to donate more than $700,000 during its second year of the partnership. Centex Homes provides each of its new homebuyers, free of charge, a one-year membership to The Nature Conservancy.

Timothy R. Eller, chairman and chief executive officer of Dallas-based Centex Homes, said, "As a result of our commitment, approximately 18,000 families and more than 600 Centex Homes employees have become members of The Nature Conservancy since April 1, 1999. Providing memberships for our customers and employees not only demonstrates our support for habitat preservation, but also provides a substantial annual membership increase and the opportunity for future support of the Conservancy's mission."

John C. Sawhill, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, said, "We are pleased Centex Homes has opted to renew their commitment to The Nature Conservancy. By providing memberships to purchasers of their homes, they are helping the Conservancy make measurable progress in protecting the world's last great places."

A $35 membership can directly impact preservation worldwide, such as funding the protection of an entire acre of tropical rainforest. In the United States, the membership Centex Homes provides its customers contributes directly to the protection and management of more than 1,300 existing nature preserves throughout the nation.

In a related matter, The Nature Conservancy today also commended Centex Homes on its most recent decision to eliminate use of wood and wood products from endangered forests and to require sustainable forest management practices from its vendors.

The Nature Conservancy is a private, international nonprofit organization established in 1951 to preserve plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its one million members have been responsible for the protection of 11.6 million acres in the United States, and have helped through partnerships to preserve more than 60 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada and the Pacific. The Conservancy owns and manages 1,320 preserves, the largest private system of nature sanctuaries in the world.

Centex Homes is a subsidiary of Dallas-based Centex Corporation (NYSE:CTX). Centex Homes operates in 66 markets in 21 states and Washington D.C., and expects to deliver more than 20,000 homes during its current fiscal year ending March 31, 2001. Centex, through its subsidiaries, ranks as one of the largest non-bank affiliated retail mortgage loan originators and is a leading general building contractor. Centex also has operations in investment real estate and home services and owns majority interest in a publicly held construction products company. Centex was recently named one of "America's Most Admired Companies" by 'FORTUNE' magazine.