Interface Swings To Profit in Fourth Quarter

Atlanta, GA, Feb. 23, 2010--Interface Inc. reported fourth quarter sales of $230.9 million, compared with sales of $247.2 million a year ago, a decline of 6.6%.

Sales increased 5.7% over the third quarter of 2009.

Operating income for the 2009 fourth quarter was $20.1 million, or 8.7% of sales, compared with an operating loss of $53.8 million in the fourth quarter of the prior year..

Income from continuing operations for the 2009 fourth quarter was $6.6 million, or $0.10 per share, compared with a loss from continuing operations in the year earlier quarter of $78.9 million, or $1.29 per share.

Net income for the quarter was $5.9 million, or $0.09 per share, compared with a net loss in the year-ago period of $79.3 million, or $1.29 per share.

"As in recent quarters, our business was buoyed by non-office segments and emerging markets such as India and the Middle East," said CEO Daniel T. Hendrix"Asia-Pacific is our first geographic area to turn positive on a year-over-year basis, as sales in the region increased more than 8% over the fourth quarter of the prior year. While the corporate office segment did improve over the third quarter, it's still sluggish, particularly in the U.S. and in Europe. Although the overall sales environment continued to be challenging in many of our end markets, we remained focused on investing in our long term strategic initiatives to diversify our end markets and reduce our exposure to cycles in the corporate office segment."

For the full year 2009, sales were $859.9 million, compared with $1.1 billion in 2008, a decrease of 20.6%. Operating income for the full year 2009 was $63.0 million, compared with operating income of $41.7 million in 2008. Income from continuing operations in 2009 was $12.7 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, compared with a loss from continuing operations of $34.5 million, or $0.58 per share, in the same period a year ago. Net income was $10.9 million, or $0.17 per share, in 2009, compared with a net loss of $40.9 million, or $0.67 per share, in 2008.

"While we don't expect much of a rebound in the mature corporate office markets this year, we're optimistic about our prospects for a number of reasons," Hendrix said.

"First, the market's secular shift to carpet tile is continuing, and as the category leader we're in the best position to take advantage of this trend. In addition, our success in penetrating non-office segments such as government, education, retail and healthcare has made us much less dependent on the corporate office market, and we plan to continue investing and pursuing new business in these non-office segments."