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Empresas y finanzas

Steelcase breaks even in third-quarter


    (Reuters) - Steelcase Inc , the world's largest office furniture maker, broke even in the latest third quarter, and forecast a loss for the fourth quarter.

    "We believe that the slowing of the global economy and related uncertainty will lead to significant reduction in industry demand for the next several quarters," CFO David Sylvester said in a statement.

    He also said the company is preparing for a difficult 2010 financial year.

    Earlier this month, the furniture maker announced several actions to reduce costs including consolidation of its manufacturing facilities in North America and job cuts.

    The company posted net income of $0.4 million for the third quarter ended November 28, compared with $31.3 million a year earlier.

    The latest third quarter included a pretax charge of $27.5 million related to a decrease in the cash surrender value of company-owned life insurance policies and $4.7 million of pretax restructuring costs.

    Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 6 cents a share, excluding items, on revenue of $805.4 million, according to Reuters estimates.

    Shares of the company closed at $5.73 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

    (Reporting by Amulya Nagaraj in Bangalore; Editing by Pratish Narayanan)