Furniture Brands International Expects Fourth Quarter SalesTo Be Flat Or Slightly Down

Furniture World News

Furniture Brands International (NYSE: FBN), commented on recent business trends and operations in the fourth quarter of 2005. W.G. (Mickey) Holliman, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Business conditions remain relatively strong at the high-end of our business. In recent weeks we have seen business improve at Lane as well, while Broyhill continues to struggle through a period of reorganization. We believe a rebound in consumer confidence, a decrease in energy costs and a stabilization of the polyurethane foam issue have mitigated some uncertainties that existed when we first gave guidance for the current quarter." Mr. Holliman concluded, "For these reasons we now expect our fourth quarter net sales to be flat to down slightly and our fourth quarter earnings per diluted common share to be in the $0.21 to $0.25 range, which includes the effect of $0.08 of previously disclosed restructuring, asset impairment and severance charges. We will report the actual results for the fourth quarter and full year 2005 on January 25, 2006." Furniture Brands International is America's largest home furnishings manufacturer, manufacturing and sourcing its products under six of the best-known brand names in the industry - Broyhill, Lane, Thomasville, Henredon, Drexel Heritage and Maitland-Smith. The company markets its products across a broad spectrum of price categories and distributes its products through an extensive system of independently owned national, regional and local retailers.