4Q sales down at least 28% for Furniture Brands International
Company reduced debt in 2009
Larry Thomas -- Kids Today, 1/19/2010 7:03:00 AM
ST. LOUIS — Furniture Brands International said it expects fourth-quarter sales to be $280 million to $290 million, some 28% to 30% below the fourth quarter of 2008.
The company, which said it will report complete financial results on Feb. 3, said it expects to be cash flow positive for the year, excluding the effects of debt payments and tax refunds.
It ended 2009 with about $83 million in cash and debt of $95 million. At the end of 2008, cash was $106.6 million and debt totaled $190 million.
Furniture Brands didn’t release earnings projections, but said the quarter will include several one-time charges for severance, store and plant closings, inventory write-down, plant downtime, and asset impairment.
In the fourth quarter of 2008, the company had sales of $403.4 million and net loss of $40.7 million, or 84 cents per share.
The sales estimate fell below the $312.5 million that Wall Street analysts were expecting on average, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
