FILA UP AFTER QUARTER REPORT HAS EARNINGS INCREASE OF 56%

          Fila Holding SpA's earnings were up 56% in the fourth
     quarter of '96, "barely topping" Wall Street "expectations,"
     according to Timothy Mullaney in the Baltimore SUN.  Fila
     earned $18.1M during the fourth quarter, and $115.2M for the
     year, compared to $11.6M and $61.2M for '95.  Fila's results
     were "stronger" than Reebok's 43% "earnings dip" in the
     fourth quarter, but "substantially weaker" than Nike's 77%
     earnings-per-share "surge for the quarter that ended in
     November."  Fila "did not exceed expectations by nearly as
     much as its results often have since the company went public
     in 1993."  Mullaney notes, "Fila's disclosures about likely
     sales early in 1997 confirm the picture the company has been
     painting for months: that growth will slow down from the
     pace that took the company from less than" $350M in sales
     for '92 to $1.384B in 1996 (Baltimore SUN, 2/28).