Furniture Brands Defends Bonuses During a Year of Losses

Posted by MCC on March 27th, 2009 at 07:34am

Bassett Furniture Industries Inc. recently reported that none of it’s top five executives received a raise in 2008 and only one received a bonus. But,  Furniture Brands is staunchly defending their generous treatment of the companies top executives.

While Furniture Brands laid off 1,400 workers in the United States in just one month and closed their plant in Pontotoc, laying off another 200 people, they dished out over $10 million in bonuses to executives. The company is defending the bonuses even though it stocks and earnings were both badly suffering during 2008.

JOhn Hastings, company spokesman said the bonus pay wsn’t based on the companies earnings, it was based on their free cash flow. At the same time, the company reported a loss of over $415 million for the year.

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