FOOL CONFERENCE CALL SYNOPSIS*
By Greg Markus (TMF Boring)

Green Tree Financial Corp.
<% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: GNT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: GNT)") end if %>
1100 Landmark Towers
St. Paul, MN 19090
Phone: 612-293-3400

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Oct. 15, 1997) /FOOLWIRE/ -- Green Tree Financial Corp., a diversified financial services company, today announced that earnings per share for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 increased 39% to $0.85 compared to $0.61 in the third quarter of 1996. Net earnings for the quarter were $118.8 million, an increase of 39% versus $85.5 million last year. This marked the third consecutive quarter of record earnings results for Green Tree.

NINE MONTH RESULTS. For the first nine months of 1997, earnings per share increased 40% to $2.27 from $1.62 in the first nine months of 1996. Net earnings were $318.7 million compared to $227.3 million in the comparable period last year. Total managed finance receivables grew by $5.9 billion in the first nine months of 1997 and ended the quarter at an all-time high of $25.9 billion. Managed receivables have grown at a 39% annual rate thus far in 1997.

FINANCE VOLUME BREAKDOWN. Consumer loan volume increased 46% to $3.0 billion and commercial loan volume increased 59% to $1.5 billion, both on a year-over-year basis. At quarter-end, Green Tree's consumer managed receivables were $23.0 billion and commercial managed receivables were $2.9 billion.

CREDIT QUALITY. Credit quality remains well under control. The 60 day-plus delinquency rate has held consistent in total for the portfolio relative to a year ago: 1.03% versus 1.00%. Losses in total, while up somewhat from a year ago, are 1.02%, which is in the range the company has anticipated, of 1.0 to 1.5 percent. The trend in credit quality is stable; quality has actually improved modestly from a year ago, for example, in manufactured housing (MH) lending. Green Tree declines to market some of the more aggressive products that some other lenders choose to offer, such as "teaser" loans or 125% LTV (loan-to-value) loans. The company ended the quarter with approximately 5,100 MH repossessions versus 4,700 at the end of 1996 -- or about a 10% increase through the year; repossessions remain in line with projections made at the beginning of the year.

HOME IMPROVEMENT/HOME EQUITY LOANS. Provisions for losses for home equity (HE) loans have increased somewhat, as the company has taken somewhat more conservative assumptions as a result of developments in the industry. HI/HE finance volume was $1.4 billion. About 60% of HI/HE volume is retail, and that percentage should increase to 70% next year as the office structure and marketing plan is in place. About two-thirds of Green Tree employees in that business line are devoted to marketing fixed-rate HI and HE loans. The company's credit card and HI businesses offer leads for marketing HE products, and there are various other cross-selling opportunities. The number of local offices has increased to approximately 100, up about 20 from last quarter. There is room for additional expansion, such as in Texas -- assuming that the legislation permitting home equity loans is passed there in November.

COMMERCIAL & EQUIPMENT FINANCE. Equipment finance produced approximately $285 million of the total commercial and equipment finance volume of $1.48 billion.

MANUFACTURED HOME LOANS. Green Tree continues to gain market share, because of the total lending commitment program it offers dealers, on both the wholesale and retail sides. Dealers value the benefits of close relationships with Green Tree. Also, the company defends aggressively against any refinancing of its portfolio by other lenders. Green Tree's MH loan volume continues to grow nicely -- up 13% -- despite some slowdown in MH shipment volume. Green Tree is in the market today with an MH securitization of approximately $550 million.

CREDIT CARD PROGRAM. The credit card portfolio totaled approximately $250 million at the end of the quarter. It's growing very nicely, with some tremendous opportunities in the pipeline. Green Tree currently has over 500,000 card holders, with very modest delinquencies.

GUIDANCE. The company is completing its plans and projections for the coming year and will have more to say about that at a later time. In general, Green Tree is very optimistic about the fourth quarter and 1998.

* A Fool conference call synopsis represents an effort to highlight the salient points of a conference call and should not be taken as an authoritative accounting or transcription of the entire event. Note: Statements made by a company other than historical information may constitute forward-looking statements for which the company can claim protection under the Safe Harbor Act. Please consult the company's filings with the SEC for information on risk factors which might cause actual results to differ materially from the information contained in these forward-looking statements.