Furniture Brands Expects Q1 Sales to Drop 15%

St. Louis, MO, March 15, 2007--Furniture Brands International Inc. expects its first-quarter net sales to drop nearly 15 percent, chairman and CEO W.G. "Mickey" Holliman reported Wednesday. Furniture Brands manufactures furniture under the Thomasville, Henredon, Drexel Heritage, Maitland-Smith, Broyhill and Lane brands.

Holliman said in a statement, "Retail conditions remain challenging across the industry and are softer than expected when we last commented on the business."

The company had said it expected first-quarter sales to be down around 10 percent versus last year's quarter, according to its annual report filed March 1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Holliman said Wednesday, "We also expect our net earnings per diluted common share to be in the 3 (cent) to 7 cent range. Included in this range is the effect of 2 cents of previously disclosed restructuring, asset impairment and severance charges as well as the effect of 3 cents in increased interest expense due to the upfront recognition of the gain on interest rate swaps at the end of the first quarter of 2006."

The company plans to report its actual first-quarter results May 2.

Holliman told an investors conference March 5 that the firm assumed its 2007 revenue would be flat. That followed Furniture Brands' revelation in its annual report filing that the company is negotiating terms with its lenders, as it likely will not be in compliance with covenants of its $400 million revolving credit facility and $150 million note purchase agreement as of March 31. The company has about $231 million available under its line of credit, according to the filing.

The company reported profit of $55.1 million on revenue of $2.42 billion in 2006.