DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

HNI Corp.'s (NYSE:HNI) (HNI) first-quarter net income fell sharply to $3.98 million, or 9 cents a share, from $20.7 million, or 43 cents a share, a year earlier, hurt by declining demand and higher costs in the most recent quarter.

Excluding restructuring charges and transition costs, HNI posted non-GAAP income of 21 cents a share.

The Muscatine, Iowa, office furniture manufacturer said sales fell 7.5% to $ 563.4 million from $609.2 million.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected per-share earnings of 24 cents on revenue of $563 million. Analyst estimates usually exclude some items.

HNI expects continuing difficulty in the economy and plans to work to offset market weakness by eliminating waste, attacking structural cost and streamlining the businesses.

-Shara Tibken; 201-938-5400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com

    (END) Dow Jones Newswires   04-17-08 0903   Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.