Housing starts rose strongly in January to their highest level in nine months, the government said in a report that suggested lower mortgage rates were breathing life into the housing market.
Armstrong Holdings, whose operating unit, Armstrong World Industries Inc., filed for Chapter 11 protection in December to resolve its asbestos liability, reported that it would disclose its financial results for 2000 in its 10-K report to the SEC in late March.
Indicating that favorable financing conditions are helping stabilize the nation's single-family housing market, the National Association of Home Builders' Housing Market Index (HMI) rebounded three points to 58 in February from an upwardly revised 55 reading in the previous month.
Design Flooring Distributors of Deerfield Beach, Fla. has been selected as the exclusive distributor of Mirage prefinished hardwood flooring throughout Florida and the east coast of Georgia.
USG Corp.’s board of directors has declared a new quarterly dividend of 2½ cents per share payable March 21, 2001, to shareholders of record as of Feb. 23, 2001. The fourth-quarter dividend represents a decrease from the previous quarterly dividend of 15 cents per share.
The Dixie Group Inc. has reported that, for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 30, 2000, the company reported a net loss of $5.7 million, or 50 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $3.1 million, or 26 cents per diluted share, for the same period last year.
During Surfaces 2001, Beaver Decorating of Reedsburg, Wis., and Zersen Flooring of Monroe, Wis., were named grand prize winners of Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based All Tile's Driveaway Sweepstakes.
Mohawk Industries Inc. reported that diluted earnings per share (EPS) came in at a fourth quarter record of 74 cents -- 6% above last year -- or $39.26 million in net earnings.
Armstrong World Industries Inc., the chief operating division of Armstrong Holdings Inc. which filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in early December, said that it received final approval from the bankruptcy court of its debtor-in-possession credit facility with Chase Manhattan Bank in the amount of $300 million.
Spending on U.S. construction projects rose unexpectedly in December, the U.S. Commerce Department reported, led by gains in single-family home and office building.