St Louis, MO, October 26, 2006--Furniture Brands International reported a 42 percent drop in third quarter profit, weighed down by restructuring charges and a challenging retail-sales environment.
The maker of Thomasville, Broyhill, Henredon and other brands forecast fourth-quarter profit below Wall Street estimates.
Earnings fell to $5.8 million, or 12 cents a share, from $9.9 million, or 19 cents a share, a year earlier.
The latest period included restructuring and severance charges of 6 cents a share; 2 cents a share in increased reserves tied to litigation; and 3 cents a share in increased expense related to interest rate swaps.
The company had pared its profit and sales outlook last month, saying softer business was forcing it to aggressively discount and cut production at several upholstery plants.
Still, third-quarter sales rose 2 percent to $568.9 million.
The company has been closing plants and merging back-office functions at its brands to improve performance as furniture companies face tough times.
In recent days, Stanley Furniture Co. and Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. posted lower quarterly sales and profit as higher borrowing costs and declining home sales caused consumers to rethink big-ticket purchases.
Furniture Brands said it expects fourth-quarter profit in the range of 11 cents to 15 cents a share, including charges of 7 cents a share and interest expense of 3 cents a share, on flat sales.
Analysts currently expect per-share profit of 31 cents for the fourth quarter,
