Furniture Brands International Reports Preliminary Financial Results for the First...

Furniture Brands International Reports Preliminary Financial Results for the
First Quarter of 2008

Strategic Plan Delivers Continued Strong Progress and Results

* Earnings per share from continuing operations of $0.07 to $0.08,
more than double the $0.03 in 2007

* Sales from continuing operations totaled $477 million, down 14%
from prior year

* Quarter-end cash of $188 million, long-term debt of $235 million
ST. LOUIS, April 17, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Furniture Brands International
(NYSE:FBN) announced today its preliminary financial results for the first
quarter ended March 31, 2008. These results are from continuing operations and
exclude the impact of the first quarter sale and operations of Hickory Business
Furniture ("HBF"). The sale of this business was announced in the fourth quarter
of 2007 and has been treated as a discontinued operation in both the 2007 and
2008 periods.

Net sales for the 2008 first quarter were $477 million, compared with $557
million in the first quarter of 2007. Diluted earnings per common share from
continuing operations are between $0.07 to $0.08 for the first quarter of 2008
compared to $0.03 in the first quarter of 2007.

Ralph P. Scozzafava, the company's Vice-Chairman of the Board and Chief
Executive Officer, commented: "The strategic plan the company unveiled last fall
continues to drive improved performance despite a challenging retail
environment. Our plan called for 2007 activities to focus on balance sheet
improvement, 2008 activities to drive improved profitability, and 2009
activities to increase profitable sales. With our first-quarter preliminary
results complete, and our belief that earnings per share will increase in later
quarters, we remain on track toward our 2008 earnings target of $0.40 to $0.60
per share.

"Our 2007 activities were very successful, as we restructured our lending
facility, turned inventories into cash, and paid down debt. At the end of 2007,
we had the most cash and least debt since our recapitalization in 1993."

"Our current balance sheet is equally positive," Mr. Scozzafava continued. "At
the end of the quarter, cash totaled approximately $188 million and our
long-term debt has been paid down to $235 million, with the ability to make
additional repayments in the future. We have generated this cash through
continued working capital improvements, the sale of HBF, and lower interest
expense."

"Our progress against our strategic plan is continuing in 2008. Despite the
economic environment, earnings from ongoing operations showed solid improvement
over both year-ago and prior quarter comparisons despite a reduction in sales.
This improved financial performance is directly related to the changes we have
executed over the past three quarters. These changes include closing 18
unprofitable stores and 10 manufacturing and storage facilities with
accompanying reductions in headcount, and launching a shared services model to
eliminate costs for administration of payroll, human resources, IT and travel.
We expect these and other actions will ultimately deliver $40 million to $50
million in annual savings with all workstreams completed by early 2009," Mr.
Scozzafava said.

"Along with our focus on financial performance, we are equally focused at the
consumer and customer levels and we are seeing signs of success. We have reduced
unproductive discounts as a means of moving inventory because we are starting to
sell the right products at the right price in the right categories, where
consumers see and respond to the real value of our brands," Mr. Scozzafava said.
"In addition, at the beginning of the second quarter, we announced price
increases across our brands that will take effect in mid-April and May."

"We have also increased our company-owned retail presence through the recent
acquisition of 11 Thomasville stores. Succeeding as a Thomasville retailer is a
key element of our strategic plan, and our performance to date is promising.
During the first quarter, those Thomasville stores we have owned for more than a
year showed a same-store sales increase of more than 2% over the prior year,"
Mr. Scozzafava said.

"We expect improvements in profitability to continue as we complete our
transition to a branded consumer products company. Broyhill is leading our
initiative to incorporate consumer insight testing and market research prior to
launching new products. Beginning in 2009, all major new product introductions
will reflect our consumer research and testing processes. By providing our
retail partners with products that we know consumers want, we can further
improve product flow, reduce discounts, control inventories and improve gross
margins. We also expect to realize the full benefits of FBN Asia, which will let
us complement our domestic manufacturing assets with the most appropriate Asian
supply chain partners," Mr. Scozzafava said.

"Furniture Brands has the right strategy in place, and we now have the right
team to execute it," Mr. Scozzafava said. "Steve Rolls joined the company this
month as chief financial officer, rounding out our Executive Leadership Team.
Together with the recent addition of Jon Botsford as general counsel, the newly
assembled team has the skill and the will to address our challenges and
opportunities. The transformation of Furniture Brands to a successful branded
consumer products company is well underway," Mr. Scozzafava said.

Earnings Guidance

The company affirmed its 2008 financial performance guidance of sales revenue
between $1.9 billion and $2.0 billion with earnings per share on a continuing
operations basis of between $0.40 and $0.60.

Upcoming Investor Events

A conference call will be held to discuss the first-quarter results at 7:30 a.m.
(Central Time) on May 1, 2008. The call can be accessed on the company's website
at www.furniturebrands.com under the "Investor Info" tab. Access to the call and
the release will be archived for one year.

About Furniture Brands

Furniture Brands International (NYSE:FBN) is a vertically integrated operating
company that is one of the nation's leading designers, manufacturers, and
retailers of home furnishings. With annual sales of approximately $2 billion, it
markets through a wide range of retail channels, from mass merchant stores to
single-brand and independent dealers to company-owned stores to specialized
interior designers. Furniture Brands serves its customers through some of the
best known and most respected brands in the furniture industry, including
Broyhill, Lane, Thomasville, Drexel Heritage, Henredon, Pearson, Hickory Chair,
Laneventure, and Maitland-Smith.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this release and in our public disclosures, whether written
or oral, relating to future events or our future performance, including any
discussion, express or implied, of our anticipated growth, operating results,
future earnings per share, plans and objectives, contain forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements under
the caption "Earnings Guidance." These statements are often identified by the
words "will", "believe", "positioned", "estimate", "project", "target",
"continue", "intend", "expect", "future", "anticipates", and similar expressions
that are not statements of historical fact. These statements are not guarantees
of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions
that are difficult to predict. Our actual results and timing of certain events
could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking
statements as a result of certain factors, including, but not limited to, those
set forth under "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2007, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, elsewhere in this
release, and in our other public filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Such factors include, but are not limited to: risks associated with
the execution of our strategic plan; changes in economic conditions; loss of
market share due to competition; failure to forecast demand or anticipate or
respond to changes in consumer tastes and fashion trends; failure to achieve
projected mix of product sales; business failures of large customers;
distribution and cost savings programs; manufacturing realignments; increased
reliance on offshore (import) sourcing of various products; fluctuations in the
cost, availability and quality of raw materials; product liability uncertainty;
environmental regulations; future acquisitions; impairment of goodwill and other
intangible assets; anti-takeover provisions which could result in a decreased
valuation of our common stock; loss of funding sources; and our ability to open
and operate new retail stores successfully. It is routine for internal
projections and expectations to change as the year or each quarter in the year
progresses, and therefore it should be clearly understood that all
forward-looking statements and the internal projections and beliefs upon which
we base our expectations included in this report or other periodic reports are
made only as of the date made and may change. While we may elect to update
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we do not undertake any
obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.

Important Additional Information

In connection with the 2008 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, the Company filed a
proxy statement regarding the 2008 Annual Meeting with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, and on March 31, 2008 mailed the definitive proxy statement
and a proxy card to each stockholder entitled to vote at the 2008 Annual
Meeting, and on April 16, 2008, mailed a supplement to the proxy statement and
an additional proxy card to stockholders entitled to vote at the 2008 Annual
Meeting. STOCKHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT, THE SUPPLEMENT AND
ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN
IMPORTANT INFORMATION. The proxy statement, supplement and other documents (when
available) relating to the 2008 Annual Meeting can be obtained free of charge
from the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. These documents can also be
obtained free of charge from the Company at the Company's website at
www.furniturebrands.com under the "Investor Info" tab, or upon written request
to Furniture Brands International, Inc., 101 South Hanley Road, Suite 1900, St.
Louis, MO 63105, Attention: Corporate Secretary. In addition, copies of the
Proxy Statement may be requested by contacting the Company's proxy solicitor,
Morrow & Co., by telephone toll free at 800-607-0088.

The Company and its directors, director nominees and executive officers may be
deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the
2008 Annual Meeting.

Information regarding the interests of the directors, director nominees and
executive officers of the Company in the solicitation is more specifically set
forth in the definitive proxy statement and the proxy statement supplement that
were filed by the Company with the SEC and which are available free of charge
from the SEC and the Company, as indicated above.

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CONTACT: Furniture Brands International
Dan Stone
314-863-1100