CITATION CORPORATION
2 Office Park Circle, Suite 204
Birmingham, AL 35223
Contact: Stanley B. Atkins
205-871-5731

November 19, 1996

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Citation Corporation (Nasdaq: CAST) announced today that its fiscal 1996 sales of $487.8 million were up 59 per cent from fiscal 1995 sales of $307.7 million. Operating income for the fiscal year was $36.9 million, a 17 per cent increase over fiscal 1995 operating income of $31.5 million. Net income for the fiscal year was $16.7 million, after recording a non-recurring pre-tax loss of $1.8 million attributable to the sale of Pennsylvania Steel Foundry, compared to a net income of $17.1 million earned in the fiscal year 1995.

Earnings per share (EPS) for fiscal 1996 of $0.95 was down 25 per cent from fiscal 1995 EPS of $1.27. EPS for fiscal 1996 was calculated on the basis of approximately 17.7 million shares as a result of a secondary offering of approximately four million shares in September 1995. EPS for fiscal 1995 was calculated on a basis of approximately 13.4 million shares. Of the fiscal 1996 EPS, $(0.06) was attributable to the loss on the sale of the Pennsylvania Steel Foundry, which was sold to Atchison Castings Co. for $9.0 million in October 1996.

For the fiscal 1996 fourth quarter, Citation had sales of $131.6 million, an increase of 43 per cent from the fiscal 1995 fourth quarter sales of $92.1 million. Net income of $1.4 million for the quarter was down 71 per cent from the fiscal 1995 comparable period of $4.8 million.

EPS for the fiscal 1996 fourth quarter was $0.08, a decrease of 76 per cent from the $0.34 EPS reported in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1995. The fiscal 1996 EPS was calculated on the basis of the four million additional shares of stock from the secondary offering and included the $(0.06) loss on the sale of Pennsylvania Steel.

The company had previously announced that fourth quarter 1996 earnings would be lower than the comparable fiscal 1995 quarter due to maintenance shutdowns and equipment problems at several of its units. In addition, lower margins from acquisitions and the slowed "ramp up" of a major expansion of Citations Texas Foundries penalized 1996 results. The sales increase for the fourth quarter was primarily due to acquisitions; revenues for the units owned prior to the acquisitions were approximately equal to 1995 same period revenues.

The sale of Pennsylvania Steel Foundry, which had been previously announced, was due to the withdrawal of Citation from certain steel casting markets which the company did not consider feasible without significant capital expenditures. Citation also idled its steel casting operations at its Texas Foundries division which lost approximately $1.6 million before tax in fiscal 1996. The sale of Pennsylvania Steel and idling of its Texas Foundries steel facilities does not effect Citations Texas Steel Co. operations which supplies Caterpillar and other industrial products manufacturers with steel castings.

Citation acquired four companies in fiscal 1996, including a steel foundry, two aluminum foundries and a medium volume machining company. Those companies contributed revenues of $36.6 million in the fiscal fourth quarter and were considered by Citation management to be generally performing at or above expectations.

Immediately following the completion of Citations fiscal year, the company concluded the acquisition of Interstate Forging Industries of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Navasota, Texas. Interstate, which is expected to have annual sales of approximately $94 million in 1996, was purchased for approximately $47 million plus the assumption of approximately $23 million in Interstate debt. The purchase agreement also includes a provision for additional payments to Interstate shareholders should Interstate exceed specified earnings for a three year period.

T. Morris Hackney, Chairman and CEO, said; "We completed a number of positive actions in our fiscal 1996, including four strong acquisitions, the withdrawal from the steel pressure vessel market, and significant strengthening of the organization. The organizational changes include a major realignment of our division general managers to focus talents on weak areas and the addition of a President and Chief Operating Officer, F. F. "Rick" Sommer.

"At the same time, our earnings were not as good as we expected. This was due to several factors including a much slower than planned startup of the new iron casting lines at our Texas Foundries Co. division and the poor performance of four out of six of our fiscal 1995 acquisitions. Also, while it was a smaller factor in our performance, our volume on a "same store" basis was behind fiscal 1995 for much of the year."

"We divested one of the poor performers and are seeing improvement at two of the remaining three. By the second quarter, we expect all of these acquisitions to contribute to earnings and we should also see continuing improvement from our fiscal 1996 acquisitions and our Texas Foundries expansion.

"We are assuming that the economy will continue its slow growth mode and that most of our major markets will neither be significantly better nor worse than 1996. Given this, and the operational improvements we are pursuing, we look forward to better performance in fiscal 1997.

"Obviously, this assumes, among other things, that there will not be significant labor unrest in the motor vehicle industries and that there will not be a recession in 1997," he said.

Citations backlog at fiscal 1996 year end was approximately $77 million versus slightly less than $72 million at the end of fiscal 1995. Shipments for the year were about 232,000 tons versus about 197,000 tons in fiscal 1995. Comparing the same units prior to acquisitions, volume for fiscal 1996 was approximately seven per cent below fiscal 1995. Citation Corporation is a metal components producer for the capital goods and durable goods industries with 16 manufacturing divisions located in nine states.

CITATION CORPORATION
Preliminary Earnings Highlights
(All figures except Earnings Per Share and Shares Outstanding in Thousands)

	Fiscal Year Ended
	29-Sep 1996	1-Oct 1995
Sales	487,753	307,681
Gross Profit	82,792	64,181
S,G& A Expenses	45,844	32,697
Operating Income	36,948	31,491
Interest Expense	7,866	3,974
Other Income (Expense)	(1,178)	581
Income before taxes	27,904	28,098
Taxes	11,162	11,019
Net Income	16,742	17,079
Earningd per share	$0.95	$1.27
Avg. Number of Shares Outstanding	17,693,974	13,437,900
	Three Months Ended
	29-Sep 1996	1-Oct 1995
Sales	131,617	92,096
Gross Profit	18,334	18,683
S,G& A Expenses	11,785	9,636
Operating Income	6,549	9,320
Interest Expense	2,656	1,804
Other Income (Expense)	(1,536)	315
Income before taxes	2,357	7,831
Taxesv	943	3,028
Net Income	1,414	4,803
Earningd per share	$0.08	$0.34
Avg. Number of Shares Outstanding	17,715,540	13,971,000