Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Keith Hughes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Keith Hughes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey
My question was on European flooring, some very, very good performance, the modest profit you talked about in the quarter. Is that a number that you could repeat in the near future? Was there anything unusually positive during this period of time?
Bill Rodruan
No, the single biggest contributor to that is better sales. And amazingly enough we see year-over-year increases in sales in several of our large markets in Europe. There's an interesting contrast between floor Europe and ceilings Europe and market mix. Floor Europe is very much focused in Central Europe, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Scandinavia whereas the ceilings business is in the UK and Russia. So we're seeing very different market dynamics. And the Central European market has been strong and so we expect the results to continue to be better than we had expected.
Keith Hughes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey
You've been talking a lot about restructuring in that business. I think you had a break even run rate goal by the end of next year. Will the restructuring activity still continue?
Bill Rodruan
Yes, sir. Yes, we haven't changed our mind on the business. It's a difficult business. I think what we're seeing is the benefits of some of the European stimulus spending which has been very helpful to us.
Keith Hughes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey
Within ceilings you had discussed kind of your revenue view for 2010. I guess that was for the whole company. But within ceilings will you have more restructuring activity in that business over the next couple quarters to prepare for difficult 2010?
Bill Rodruan
Well, I think we will certainly be taking cost down. When we think about restructuring the big question for us is when do we close another plant and what are the mechanics of that? There are some difficulties associated with that in terms of having a plant where all of the products they make are made somewhere else but clearly if volume really is down in the mid teens we're going to be in a situation where we can think about closing another plant and that's the thing that would give us the biggest chunk of MPE costs. But we're not at a point yet where we can make that decision.
Keith Hughes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey
- To read the full transcript on Seeking Alpha, click here »
