Furniture Brands International  announced  it expects second quarter diluted net earnings per common share to be in the $0.42 to $0.45 range.

Mickey Holliman
Chairman, President and CEO
"When we issued our earnings guidance in April we announced that we had removed the growth assumptions previously included in our second half expectations. Business in the second quarter has been modestly weaker than we expected, and we have now brought the guidance for the current quarter down slightly as well. Business conditions remain very soft across nearly all segments of our industry. While it is particularly challenging at our high-end companies, Thomasville, Drexel Heritage, Henredon and Maitland-Smith, strong results in the second quarter of last year at Broyhill and Lane are making comparisons difficult in the middle-price business as well.

He added, "With respect to the full year, we are still comfortable with our previously stated expectation of $2.00 to $2.05 per diluted common share. We will report the final results of the second quarter on July 23."

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.