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Armstrong battered by housing slump

The slowdown in the housing market and the overall economy hurt Armstrong World Industries Inc.'s bottom line in the first quarter.

The slowdown in the housing market and the overall economy hurt Armstrong World Industries Inc.'s bottom line in the first quarter.

The Lancaster home-products company said today that its reported profit from continuing operations plummeted 41 percent from a year ago to $38.5 million. The report pummeled its stock, which was down more than 6 percent this morning.

Sales in the quarter ended March 31 fell 4 percent from last year's quarter to $828.2 million - and the decline was 7 percent without a benefit from foreign exchange rates.

The company noted that its 2007 quarter, by comparison, was especially strong.

It added that the first-quarter results this year "reflect continued declines in the U.S. residential housing market [and] a moderate slowdown in U.S. commercial construction market."

Armstrong designs and manufactures floors, ceilings and cabinets. Its shares fell $2.27 to $33.72 on the New York Stock Exchange in late-morning trading.