Saucony, Inc. Reports Preliminary Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2000 Sales and Earnings, Updates Guidance for Fiscal Year 2001.

Business Editors

PEABODY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 30, 2001

Saucony, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCNYA and SCNYB) today announced preliminary results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended January 5, 2001.

Saucony stated that based on currently available information, the Company expects to report net sales in the range of $30.5 million to $31.4 million for the fourth quarter and in the range of $165.1 million to $166.0 million for the fiscal year ended January 5, 2001, versus $30.5 million and $154.7 million, respectively, for the corresponding periods in the previous year. The Company also stated that it expects diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.07 to $0.10 for the fourth quarter and $1.65 to $1.68 for fiscal year 2000, excluding the effect of the loss on the sale of the Company's cycling division, versus $0.25 and $1.57, respectively, for the same periods last year. The loss on the sale of the cycling division reduced diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.25 to $0.26 in fiscal year 2000.

John H. Fisher, Saucony's President and Chief Executive Officer stated, "Our shortfall for the quarter is primarily attributable to our Originals business and a very weak retail environment. In the fourth quarter, the level of Originals order cancellations was well above our expectations. In addition, the softer than anticipated holiday retail selling period negatively impacted our at-once business. With respect to our technical category, sales in the fourth quarter remained robust, despite higher than anticipated cancellations and the postponement of shipments of orders by one of our major retail accounts."

"On a more positive note, fiscal 2000 was marked by a number of significant accomplishments," Mr. Fisher continued. "We expect that our net sales and earnings per share for the year will both be at record levels. During the year we successfully entered a new retail footwear channel with our Hyde Authentics brand. This lifestyle line of casual footwear exceeded our expectations throughout the year and early indications for spring and summer are encouraging. In addition, we achieved our second consecutive year of profitable growth overseas and our first profitable year in our growing Hind business. Perhaps most important, we continued to achieve double digit growth in our technical running business, which is a testament to the ongoing strength of the Saucony brand among our core consumers."

For fiscal year 2001, the Company now expects net sales to range from $153.0 million to $162.0 million and diluted earnings per share to range from $1.30 to $1.50. For the first quarter ending

April 6, 2001, the Company expects sales to range from $41.0 million to $43.0 million and diluted earnings per share to range from $0.31 to $0.37. As a result of the fourth quarter results and outlook for 2001, the Company is aggressively reviewing its operating expense levels. This review may result in restructuring and related charges in the first quarter of fiscal 2001. The Company's guidance does not reflect the impact of such potential charges.

Mr. Fisher concluded, "We remain optimistic about our prospects for the future as we believe our credibility and leadership position in the technical running category affords us many opportunities. We continue to invest in our brands and believe the Saucony name is stronger today than it has ever been in the past. Our strategy is to continue to expand our market share in the largest athletic footwear category, the three billion dollar running shoe category, introduce new brands and leverage our brand globally."

The estimated financial results contained in this announcement for the Company's fourth quarter are preliminary and are subject to the fiscal year 2000 audit. Final financial results for the quarter and the year may vary. The Company intends to report actual fourth quarter and full year results on February 27, 2001.

The Company will host a conference call on Wednesday, January 31 at 8:30 a.m. EST to discuss the revised Company outlook. John H. Fisher, President and Chief Executive Officer, who will be joined by Mike Umana, Chief Financial Officer, will host the call. A dial-in number will be available to members of the investment community. A web simulcast will be accessible online at www.streetevents.com. An online replay will be available shortly after the conference call and will continue through February 7, 2001.

Saucony, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures and markets (i) a broad line of performance-oriented athletic shoes for adults under the Saucony(R) brand name, (ii) athletic apparel under the Hind(R) brand name, (iii) athletic shoes under the Spot-bilt(R) name and (iv) casual footwear under the Hyde(R) name.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. For this purpose, any statements that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "intends," "estimates" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All of our statements above regarding the outlook for fiscal 2001 and the first quarter of that fiscal year are forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K under "Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Certain Other Factors that May Affect Future Results" ("Certain Factors") filed by Saucony, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 29, 2000, which Certain Factors discussion is incorporated herein by this reference. In particular, there can be no assurance as to the level of revenues or net income that will be achieved by the Company because such items are materially dependent upon the condition of the domestic and world economies, the impact of foreign regulation and the performance of foreign suppliers, competition from third parties and consumer preferences.