Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2)
Registration No. 333-134168

 

PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

(To Prospectus Dated May 15, 2006)

 

 

 

5,000,000 Shares

 

Class A Common Stock

$14.65 per share

 

 

 

 

We are selling 5,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock. We have granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to 750,000 additional shares of Class A common stock to cover over-allotments.

 

Our Class A common stock is quoted on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “IFSIA”. The last reported sale price for our Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market on November 6, 2006 was $14.79 per share.

 

 

 

 

Investing in our common stock involves risks.  See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 10.

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined that this prospectus supplement or the related prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

 

 

 

The underwriters expect to deliver the shares to purchasers on or about November 10, 2006.

 

 

 

 

Citigroup

 

 

 

 

Raymond James

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 6, 2006

 

This prospectus supplement is part of a registration statement that we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, using a “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf process, we may sell any combination of the securities described in the registration statement in one or more offerings. We have provided to you in this prospectus supplement a description of the common stock we are now offering. Unless the context indicates otherwise, all references in this prospectus supplement to we, our, us, or the company refer to Interface, Inc. and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis.

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

You should rely only on the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement or the documents to which we have referred you or information that is contained in any free writing prospectus we may authorize to be delivered to you. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with information that is different from such information. If anyone provides you with different information, you should not rely on it. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized anyone to provide you with different information. We, and the underwriters, are offering to sell shares of common stock and seeking offers to buy shares of common stock only in jurisdictions where offers and sales are permitted. The information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement is accurate only as of the date of each document regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus supplement or any sale of these securities. In case there are any differences or inconsistencies between this prospectus supplement and the information incorporated by reference, you should rely on the information in the document with the latest date.

 

References to our website have been provided for textual reference only, and information on our website does not constitute part of this prospectus supplement. This prospectus supplement is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy our common stock in any circumstances or jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

SUMMARY

	•	introduced specialized product offerings tailored to the unique demands of these segments, including specific designs, functionalities and prices;
	•	created special sales teams dedicated to penetrating these segments at a high level, with a focus on specific customer accounts rather than geographic territories; and
	•	realigned incentives for our corporate office segment sales force generally in order to encourage their efforts, and where appropriate, to assist our penetration of these other segments.

Class A common stock offered		5,000,000		shares
Shares to be outstanding after the offering:
Class A common stock		53,092,710		shares
Class B common stock		6,739,262		shares
		59,831,972		shares

Use of proceeds		We intend to use the net proceeds that we receive from this offering to repay some of our outstanding debt and may use a portion of such proceeds for general corporate purposes.
Nasdaq Global Market symbol		“IFSIA”

																						As of and For the
		As of and For the Year Ended																				Six Months Ended
		December 30,				December 29,				December 28,				January 2,				January 1,				July 3,				July 2,
		2001				2002				2003				2005				2006				2005				2006
		(In thousands, except per share amounts)
Statement of Operations Data:
Net sales		$	875,881			$	745,317			$	766,494			$	881,658			$	985,766			$	481,260			$	509,312
Cost of sales			613,859				522,119				543,251				616,297				681,069				332,893				349,163
Operating income(1)			4,494				24,889				31,351				60,742				82,001				38,393				17,771
Income (loss) from continuing operations			(21,769	)			(10,605	)			(8,012	)			6,440				17,966				6,863				(11,176	)
Loss from discontinued operations			(14,518	)			(21,679	)			(16,420	)			(58,815	)			(14,791	)			(14,525	)			(27	)
Loss on disposal of discontinued operations			—				—				(8,825	)			(3,027	)			(1,935	)			(1,935	)			—
Cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle(2)			—				(55,380	)			—				—				—				—				—
Net income (loss)			(36,287	)			(87,664	)			(33,257	)			(55,402	)			1,240				(9,597	)			(11,203	)
Income (loss) from continuing operations per common share
Basic		$	(0.43	)		$	(0.21	)		$	(0.16	)		$	0.13			$	0.35			$	0.13			$	(0.21	)
Diluted			(0.43	)			(0.21	)			(0.16	)			0.12				0.34				0.13				(0.21	)
Average Shares Outstanding
Basic			50,099				50,194				50,282				50,682				51,551				51,362				52,995
Diluted			50,099				50,194				50,282				52,171				52,895				52,622				52,995
Statement of Cash Flows Data:
Depreciation and amortization(3)		$	40,369			$	32,684			$	34,141			$	33,336			$	31,455			$	16,194			$	15,931
Capital expenditures(4)			26,424				14,022				16,203				15,783				25,478				5,832				16,083

																						As of and For the
		As of and For the Year Ended																				Six Months Ended
		December 30,				December 29,				December 28,				January 2,				January 1,				July 3,				July 2,
		2001				2002				2003				2005				2006				2005				2006
		(In thousands)
Balance Sheet Data:
Cash and cash equivalents		$	788			$	23,557			$	2,890			$	22,164			$	51,312			$	22,441			$	27,347
Working capital			291,132				275,075				247,725				228,842				209,512				217,076				204,799
Total assets			954,754				852,048				879,670				869,798				838,990				855,348				814,238
Total long-term debt(5)			448,494				445,000				445,000				460,000				458,000				469,824				428,823
Total shareholders’ equity			302,475				224,171				218,733				194,178				172,076				164,149				179,941
Segment Data:
Modular Carpet segment sales		$	484,755			$	442,287			$	473,724			$	563,397			$	646,213			$	317,208			$	352,358
Modular Carpet segment operating income			42,797				41,960				45,828				63,888				77,351				37,874				44,309
Modular Carpet segment operating margin			8.8	%			9.5	%			9.7	%			11.3	%			12.0	%			11.9	%			12.6	%

(1)		Includes a $3.3 million restructuring charge and a $20.7 million goodwill impairment charge in the six months ended July 2, 2006, and includes restructuring charges of $6.2 million, $22.5 million, and $54.6 million in years 2003, 2002, and 2001, respectively. We initiated three separate restructuring plans during 2002, 2001 and 2000. The 2003 charge was recognized with respect to the restructuring plan initiated in 2002. For further analysis of these restructuring plans and charges, see “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — Restructuring Charges”, which are included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 1, 2006 and “Notes to Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements — Restructuring”, which are included in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 2, 2006, respectively, both of which are incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement.
(2)		In 2002, we recognized an impairment charge of $55.4 million (after-tax) related to our adoption of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“SFAS”) No. 142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets”. For more information, see “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies”, which are included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 1, 2006, which is incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement.
(3)		We ceased amortization of goodwill with the adoption of SFAS No. 142 “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets” effective December 31, 2001.
(4)		Includes property and equipment obtained in acquisitions of businesses.
(5)		Total long-term debt does not include debt related to receivables sold under our receivables securitization program, which was terminated in June 2003. As of December 30, 2001, and December 29, 2002, we had sold receivables of $34.0 million and $30.0 million, respectively.

 

You should carefully consider the following factors, in addition to the other information included in this prospectus supplement, before making an investment in our securities. Any or all of the risk factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operation and prospects.

 

We compete with a large number of manufacturers in the highly competitive commercial floorcovering products market, and some of these competitors have greater financial resources than we do.

 

The commercial floorcovering industry is highly competitive. Globally, we compete for sales of floorcovering products with other carpet manufacturers and manufacturers of other types of floorcovering. Although the industry has experienced significant consolidation, a large number of manufacturers remain in the industry. Some of our competitors, including a number of large diversified domestic and foreign companies who manufacture modular carpet as one segment of their business, have greater financial resources than we do.

 

Sales of our principal products have been and may continue to be affected by adverse economic cycles in the renovation and construction of commercial and institutional buildings.

 

Sales of our principal products are related to the renovation and construction of commercial and institutional buildings. This activity is cyclical and has been affected by the strength of a country’s or region’s general economy, prevailing interest rates and other factors that lead to cost control measures by businesses and other users of commercial or institutional space. The effects of cyclicality upon the corporate office segment tend to be more pronounced than the effects upon the institutional segment. Historically, we have generated more sales in the corporate office segment than in any other market. The effects of cyclicality upon the new construction segment of the market also tend to be more pronounced than the effects upon the renovation segment. The adverse cycle during the years 1999 through 2003 significantly lessened the overall demand for commercial interiors products, which adversely affected our business during those years. These effects may recur and could be more pronounced if the global economy does not improve or is further weakened.

 

Our success depends significantly upon the efforts, abilities and continued service of our senior management executives and our principal design consultant, and our loss of any of them could affect us adversely.

 

We believe that our success depends to a significant extent upon the efforts and abilities of our senior management executives. In addition, we rely significantly on the leadership that David Oakey of David Oakey Designs provides to our internal design staff. Specifically, David Oakey Designs provides product design/production engineering services to us under an exclusive consulting contract that contains non-competition covenants. Our current agreement with David Oakey Designs extends to April 2011. The loss of any of these key persons could have an adverse impact on our business.

 

Our substantial international operations are subject to various political, economic and other uncertainties that could adversely affect our business results, including by restrictive taxation or other government regulation and by foreign currency fluctuations.

 

We have substantial international operations. In fiscal 2005, approximately 43% of our net sales and a significant portion of our production were outside the United States, primarily in Europe and Asia-Pacific. Our corporate strategy includes the expansion and growth of our international business on a worldwide basis. As a result, our operations are subject to various political, economic and other uncertainties, including risks of restrictive taxation policies, changing political conditions and governmental regulations. We also make a substantial portion of our net sales in currencies other than U.S. dollars (approximately 43% of 2005 net sales), which subjects us to the risks inherent in currency translations. The scope and volume of our global operations make it impossible to eliminate completely all foreign currency translation risks as an influence on our financial results.

Large increases in the cost of petroleum-based raw materials could adversely affect us if we are unable to pass these cost increases through to our customers.

 

Petroleum-based products comprise the predominant portion of the cost of raw materials that we use in manufacturing. While we attempt to match cost increases with corresponding price increases, continued large increases in the cost of petroleum-based raw materials could adversely affect our financial results if we are unable to pass through such price increases to our customers.

 

Unanticipated termination or interruption of any of our arrangements with our primary third-party suppliers of synthetic fiber could have a material adverse effect on us.

 

Invista Inc., a subsidiary of Koch Industries, Inc., currently supplies approximately 46% of our requirements for synthetic fiber (nylon), which is the principal raw material that we use in our carpet products. In addition, other of our businesses have a high degree of dependence on their third party suppliers of synthetic fiber for certain products or markets. The unanticipated termination or interruption of any of our supply arrangements with our current suppliers could have a material adverse effect on us because of the cost and delay associated with shifting more business to another supplier. We do not have a long-term supply agreement with Invista.

 

We have a significant amount of indebtedness, which could have important negative consequences to us.

 

Our substantial indebtedness could have important negative consequences to us, including:

 

 

The market price of our common stock has been volatile and may continue to be volatile after the offering, and the value of your investment may decline.

 

The market price of our Class A common stock has been volatile in the past and may continue to be volatile after the offering. Such volatility may cause precipitous drops in the price of our Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market and may cause your investment in our common stock to lose significant value. As a general matter, market price volatility has had a significant effect on the market values of securities issued by many companies for reasons unrelated to their operating performance. Therefore, we cannot predict the market price for our common stock after the offering.

 

Our earnings in a future period could be adversely affected by non-cash adjustments to goodwill, if a future test of goodwill assets indicates a material impairment of those assets.

 

As prescribed by Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 142, we undertake an annual review of the goodwill asset balance reflected in our financial statements. Our review is conducted during the fourth quarter of the year, unless there has been a triggering event prescribed by applicable accounting rules that warrants an earlier interim testing for possible goodwill impairment. In the past, we have had non-cash adjustments for goodwill impairment as a result of such testings ($20.7 million in 2006,

$29.0 million in 2004 and $55.4 million in 2002). A future goodwill impairment test may result in a future non-cash adjustment, which could adversely affect our earnings for any such future period.

 

Our Chairman, together with other insiders, currently has sufficient voting power to elect a majority of our Board of Directors.

 

Our Chairman, Ray C. Anderson, beneficially owns approximately 52% of our outstanding Class B common stock. The holders of the Class B common stock are entitled, as a class, to elect a majority of our Board of Directors. Therefore, Mr. Anderson, together with other insiders, has sufficient voting power to elect a majority of the Board of Directors. On all other matters submitted to the shareholders for a vote, the holders of the Class B common stock generally vote together as a single class with the holders of the Class A common stock. Mr. Anderson’s beneficial ownership of the outstanding Class A and Class B common stock combined is approximately 7%.

 

Our Rights Agreement could discourage tender offers or other transactions for our stock that could result in shareholders receiving a premium over the market price for our stock.

 

Our Board of Directors adopted a Rights Agreement in 1998 pursuant to which holders of our common stock will be entitled to purchase from us a fraction of a share of our Series B Participating Cumulative Preferred Stock if a third party acquires beneficial ownership of 15% or more of our common stock without our consent. In addition, the holders of our common stock will be entitled to purchase the stock of an Acquiring Person (as defined in the Rights Agreement) at a discount upon the occurrence of triggering events. These provisions of the Rights Agreement could have the effect of discouraging tender offers or other transactions that could result in shareholders receiving a premium over the market price for our common stock.

 

This prospectus supplement (and other documents to which it refers) contains statements about future events and expectations which are characterized as forward-looking statements. Words such as “may”, “could”, “would”, “should”, “believes”, “expects”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “intends”, “plans”, “targets”, “objectives”, “seek”, “strive”, negatives of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs, assumptions and expectations of our future economic performance, taking into account the information currently available to our management. They are expressions based on historical fact, but do not guarantee future performance. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions and certain other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or financial condition to differ materially from the expectations of future results, performance or financial condition we express or imply in any forward-looking statements. Factors that could contribute to these differences include those discussed in “Risk Factors” and in other sections of this prospectus supplement. We qualify any forward-looking statements entirely by these cautionary factors.

 

We believe these forward-looking statements are reasonable, but we caution that you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, because our future results and shareholder values may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. We do not intend to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, relating to the matters discussed in this prospectus supplement.

 

Our Class A common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “IFSIA”. Our Class B common stock is not publicly traded but is convertible into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis. The following table sets forth for the periods indicated the high and low sales prices of our Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market. No dividends were paid on common stock for the periods indicated.

 

 

The last sale price of the Class A common stock on November 6, 2006, was $14.79, as reported by the Nasdaq Global Market. As of November 3, 2006, we had 763 holders of record of our Class A common stock and 74 holders of record of our Class B common stock. We believe that there are in excess of 4,000 beneficial holders of our Class A common stock.

 

The following table sets forth our cash and cash equivalents and capitalization as of July 2, 2006, on an actual basis and as adjusted (1) to reflect actual interim borrowing and debt securities repurchase transactions, and (2) to give effect to the issuance of the common stock offered hereby, at the offering price of $14.65 per share, and our application of the estimated net proceeds from this offering, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option. You should read this table in conjunction with the information contained in our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 1, 2006 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 2, 2006, both of which are incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement.

 

 

 

 

We derived the summary consolidated financial data presented below from our audited consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto for the years indicated and our unaudited interim consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto for the six-month periods indicated. In our opinion, the unaudited financial information contains all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair presentation of the results of operations for such periods. The results for the six months ended July 2, 2006, may not be indicative of results to be achieved for the entire fiscal year. You should read the summary financial data presented below together with those audited and unaudited consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto, which are included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 1, 2006, and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 2, 2006, respectively, both of which are incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement.

 

In addition to other information discussed there, you should note that, in the fourth quarter of 2002, we decided to discontinue the operations related to our U.S. raised access flooring business. Substantially all of the assets related to these operations were sold in the third quarter of 2003. In the third quarter of 2004, we also decided to discontinue the operations related to our Re:Source dealer businesses, as well as the operations of a small Australian dealer business and a small residential fabrics business. In the second quarter of 2006, we sold our European fabrics business. In connection with the sale, we recorded a pre-tax non-cash charge of $20.7 million for the impairment of goodwill in the first quarter of 2006, and we recorded a $1.7 million loss on that divestiture in the second quarter of 2006. For the first quarter of 2006, the European fabrics business generated revenue of $17.3 million and an operating loss (after the $20.7 million goodwill impairment charge) of $19.6 million. The balances have been adjusted to reflect the discontinued operations of these businesses (but not the European fabrics divestiture).

 

 

 

 

General

 

Our revenues are derived from sales of floorcovering products (primarily modular and broadloom carpet), interior fabrics and other specialty products. Our commercial interiors business, as well as the commercial interiors industry in general, is cyclical in nature and is impacted by economic conditions and trends that affect the markets for commercial and institutional business space. The commercial interiors industry is largely driven by reinvestment by corporations into their existing businesses in the form of new fixtures and furnishings for their workplaces. In significant part, the timing and amount of such reinvestments are impacted by the profitability of those corporations. As a result, macroeconomic factors such as employment rates, office vacancy rates, capital spending, productivity and efficiency gains that impact corporate profitability in general, also affect our businesses.

 

During the past several years, we have successfully focused more of our marketing and sales efforts on non-corporate office segments to reduce somewhat our exposure to economic cycles that affect the corporate office market segment more adversely, as well as to capture additional market share. Our mix of corporate office versus non-corporate office modular carpet sales in the Americas has shifted over the past several years to 48% and 52%, respectively, for the first six months of 2006 compared with 64% and 36%, respectively, in 2001. We expect a further shift in the future as we continue to implement our segmentation strategy.

 

During the years 1999 through 2003 (except for a modest rebound during the latter portion of 2000), the commercial interiors industry as a whole, and the broadloom carpet market in particular, experienced decreased demand levels. The general downturn in the domestic and international economy that characterized most of 2001, 2002 and 2003 further adversely affected the commercial interiors industry, especially in the U.S. corporate office market segment. These conditions significantly impaired our growth and operating profitability during those years. During 2004, and particularly in the second half of the year, the commercial interiors industry began recovering from the downturn, which led to improved sales and operating profitability for us. That recovery continued at a gradual pace throughout 2005 and the first half of 2006.

 

Repatriation of Earnings of Foreign Subsidiaries

 

Pursuant to the provisions of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, we repatriated an aggregate of $35.9 million of earnings from foreign subsidiaries during 2005 in order to take advantage of a special opportunity to repatriate the funds at a substantially reduced tax rate. Consequently, we recorded aggregate tax charges of $3.4 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, during 2005 related to the repatriation.

 

Discontinued Operations

 

Re:Source Dealer Businesses

 

During the years leading up to 2004, our owned Re:Source dealer businesses, which were part of a broader network comprised of both owned and aligned dealers that sell and install floorcovering products, experienced decreased sales volumes and intense pricing pressure, primarily as a result of the economic downturn in the commercial interiors industry. As a result, in 2004, we decided to exit our owned Re:Source dealer businesses and began to dispose of several of our dealer subsidiaries. In accordance with SFAS No. 144, “Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets,” we have reported the results of operations for the owned Re:Source dealer businesses (as well as the results of operations of a small Australian dealer business and a small residential fabrics business that we also decided to exit), for all periods reflected herein, as “discontinued operations”. Consequently, our discussion of revenues or sales and other results of operations (except for net income or loss amounts), including percentages derived from or based on such amounts, excludes these discontinued operations unless we indicate otherwise.

In the third quarter of 2005, we completed the last in a series of nine transactions by which we sold nine of our owned Re:Source dealer businesses. The nine dealer businesses sold were part of the fifteen Re:Source dealer businesses that we owned at the time our plan to exit the owned dealer businesses was announced in 2004. Eight of the nine businesses were sold to either the general managers of the respective businesses or an entity in which the general manager participated, and the other business was sold to our “aligned”, but not owned, dealer in the relevant geographic region. The aggregate net consideration we received in connection with the sales was $9.7 million plus the purchasers’ assumption of various liabilities and obligations. Of that dollar amount, an aggregate of $7.5 million was paid in cash at the closings, with the remainder of $2.2 million payable pursuant to promissory notes at interest rates ranging from prime to 12% and with maturities ranging from one to three years. We have terminated all ongoing operations of the other six owned dealer businesses, and in some cases we are completing their wind-down through subcontracting arrangements. In the first quarter of 2006, we sold certain assets relating to our aligned dealer network, and we are discontinuing its operations as well. During the first six months of 2005, we recorded a loss of $1.9 million ($1.6 million of which was recorded during the second quarter of 2005) in connection with the disposal of certain of these businesses.

 

These discontinued operations had net sales of $1.5 million and $9.4 million in the three-month periods ended July 2, 2006, and July 3, 2005, respectively, and had net sales of $2.0 million and $26.7 million in the six-month periods ended July 2, 2006, and July 3, 2005, respectively (these results are included in our statements of operations as part of the “Loss from Discontinued Operations, Net of Taxes”). Loss on operations of these businesses, net of tax, was $0.0 million and $6.8 million in the three-month periods ended July 2, 2006, and July 3, 2005, respectively, and $0.0 million and $11.1 million in the six-month periods ended July 2, 2006, and July 3, 2005, respectively. We recorded a $3.5 million write-down ($3.0 million of which was recorded during the second quarter of 2005), net of taxes, for the impairment of assets during the first six months of 2005, to adjust the carrying value of the assets of these businesses to their net realizable value.

 

U.S. Raised/Access Flooring Business

 

In the fourth quarter of 2002, we decided to discontinue our operation of our U.S. raised/access flooring business, which had experienced a significant decline in demand, primarily due to decreased spending by technology companies. We completed the sale of substantially all of its assets to a third party in September 2003. We have reported the results of operations for the U.S. raised/access flooring business, for all periods reflected herein, as discontinued operations. As a result, our discussion of revenues or sales and other results of operations (except for net income or loss amounts), including percentages derived from or based on such amounts, excludes the results of our U.S. raised/access flooring business unless we indicate otherwise.

 

Our U.S. raised/access flooring business represented revenues of $13.6 million in year 2003 (these results are included in our consolidated statements of operations as part of “Loss from Discontinued Operations, Net of Tax”). Loss from operations of that business, net of tax, was $3.9 million in year 2003. In addition, in the third quarter of 2003, we recorded an after-tax loss of $8.8 million in connection with disposition of the assets. These discontinued operations had no impact in 2005 or 2004.

 

Impact of Strategic Restructuring Initiatives

 

We recorded a pre-tax restructuring charge of $3.3 million in the first quarter of 2006. The charge reflected: (1) the closure of our fabrics manufacturing facility in East Douglas, Massachusetts, and consolidation of those operations into our facility in Elkin, North Carolina; (2) workforce reduction at the East Douglas, Massachusetts facility; and (3) a reduction in carrying value of another fabrics facility and other assets. The restructuring charge was comprised of $0.3 million of cash expenditures for severance benefits and other similar costs, and $3.0 million of non-cash charges, primarily for the write-down of carrying value and disposal of assets. These restructuring activities are expected to reduce excess capacity in our fabrics dyeing and finishing operations and improve overall manufacturing efficiency, and are expected

to be substantially completed by the end of 2006. We believe the restructuring will yield cost savings of approximately $2.0 million in 2006, and $3.6 million annually thereafter.

 

We incurred a pre-tax restructuring charge in 2003 of $6.2 million, as we implemented various initiatives to reduce our operating costs and strengthen our ability to generate free cash flow. No restructuring charges were incurred during 2005 or 2004. The 2003 restructuring charge reflected:

 

 

The charge was comprised of $4.5 million of cash expenditures for severance benefits and other costs, and $1.7 million of non-cash charges, primarily for the write-down of the carrying value and disposal of certain assets. These initiatives are producing the strategic results we targeted, in that we have reduced our cost structure and have strengthened our cash flow position.

 

Further discussion about the restructuring charges appears in the “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements” contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 1, 2006, and “Notes to Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements” contained in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ending July 2, 2006, both of which are incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement.

 

Goodwill Impairment Write-Down

 

In April 2006, subsequent to the end of the first quarter of 2006, we sold our European fabrics business (Camborne Holdings Limited) for approximately $28.8 million to an entity formed by the business management team. In connection with the sale, we recorded a pre-tax non-cash charge of $20.7 million for the impairment of goodwill in the first quarter of 2006, and we recorded a $1.7 million loss on disposal of the business in the second quarter of 2006. For the first quarter of 2006, the European fabrics business generated revenue of $17.3 million and operating loss (after the $20.7 million goodwill impairment charge) of $19.6 million.

 

During the fourth quarters of each of the years 2003 to 2005, we performed the annual goodwill impairment tests required by SFAS No. 142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets”. In effecting the impairment testing, we used an outside consultant to help prepare valuations of reporting units in accordance with the applicable standards, and those valuations were compared with the respective book values of the reporting units to determine whether any goodwill impairment existed. In preparing the valuations, past, present and future expectations of performance were considered. No impairment was indicated in our continuing operations during these years. However, an after-tax impairment charge of $29.0 million was recorded in fiscal year 2004 related to our discontinued Re:Source dealer businesses.

 

Results of Operations

 

The following discussion and analyses reflect the factors and trends discussed in the preceding sections. In addition, we believe our performance during 2003 and (to some extent) 2004 reflects the unprecedented downturn experienced by the commercial interiors industry in general during that time, which we discuss elsewhere.

 

During the six months ended July 2, 2006, we had net sales of $509.3 million, compared with net sales of $481.3 million in the first six months of last year.

 

During the second quarter of 2006, after the loss on disposal of our European fabrics business described below, we had net income of $5.9 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $7.4 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2005. The 2005 second quarter results included a loss from discontinued operations (net of tax) of $9.8 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, and a loss on disposal of discontinued operations (net of tax) of $1.6 million, or $0.03 per diluted share.

During the first six months of 2006, the goodwill impairment, restructuring charge and European fabrics disposal loss described below led to our net loss of $11.2 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $9.6 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, in the comparable period last year. Our net loss for the first six months of 2005 included a loss from discontinued operations (net of tax) of $14.5 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, and a loss on disposal of discontinued operations (net of tax) of $1.9 million, or $0.03 per diluted share.

 

At July 2, 2006, we recognized an $11.5 million decrease in our foreign currency translation adjustment account compared to January 1, 2006, primarily because of the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against the euro.

 

Our net sales that were denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar were approximately 43% in year 2005 and approximately 36% in each of years 2004 and 2003. Because we have such substantial international operations, we are impacted, from time to time, by international developments that affect foreign currency transactions. For example, the performance of the euro against the U.S. dollar, for purposes of the translation of European revenues into U.S. dollars, favorably affected our reported results in 2003 and 2004, when the euro was strengthening relative to the U.S. dollar. In 2005, however, when the euro weakened relative to the U.S. dollar, the translation of European revenues into U.S. dollars adversely affected our reported results. The following table presents the amount (in U.S. dollars) by which the exchange rates for converting euros into U.S. dollars have affected our net sales and operating income during the periods indicated:

 

 

All amounts above for all periods exclude our discontinued operations, primarily comprised of our U.S. raised/access flooring business (which we sold in September 2003) and our owned Re:Source dealer businesses (which we exited during 2004-2005).

 

The following table presents, as a percentage of net sales, certain items included in our Consolidated Statements of Operations for the periods indicated:

 

Below, we provide information regarding net sales for each of our four operating segments, and analyze those results for each of the last three fiscal years and for the six months ended July 3, 2005, and July 2, 2006, respectively. Fiscal year 2004 was a 53-week period, while fiscal years 2005 and 2003 were 52-week periods. The 53 weeks in 2004 versus the 52 weeks in 2005 and 2003 are a factor in certain of the comparisons reflected below.

 

Net Sales by Business Segment

 

We currently classify our businesses into the following four operating segments for reporting purposes:

 

 

Net sales by operating segment and for our company as a whole were as follows for the three-month and six-month periods ended July 2, 2006, and July 3, 2005, respectively:

 

 

Net sales by operating segment and for our company as a whole were as follows for the 2005, 2004 and 2003 fiscal years:

 

 

Modular Carpet Segment.  For the three-month period ended July 2, 2006, net sales for the Modular Carpet segment increased $22.8 million (13.9%) versus the comparable period in 2005. For the six-month period ended July 2, 2006, net sales for the Modular Carpet segment increased $35.2 million (11.1%) versus the comparable period in 2005. On a geographic basis, we experienced significant increases in net sales in Europe and Asia-Pacific for both the three-month period (up 13.9% (in local currency) and 13.6%, respectively) and six-month period (up 13.3% (in local currency) and 10.2%, respectively) ended July 2, 2006, versus the comparable periods in 2005. We also saw significant increases during these periods in our sales into the institutional (education and government), hospitality and residential market segments, which we attribute to our focus on those market segments, among others, as part of our strategy to increase product sales in non-corporate office market segments.

For 2005, net sales for the worldwide Modular Carpet segment increased $82.8 million (14.7%) versus 2004. The weighted average selling price per square yard in 2005 was up 4.6% compared with 2004, primarily due to our passing through to customers increases in our cost of petroleum-based raw materials. On a geographic basis, we experienced increases in net sales in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific, which were up 18%, 6% and 21%, respectively. In the Americas, we saw significant increases in our sales into the hospitality (43% increase), retail (27% increase), and corporate office (17% increase) market segments. Sales growth in Europe is attributable primarily to our gaining market share from competitors in an otherwise down geographic market. Sales growth in Asia-Pacific is attributable in large part to a relatively good economic climate in that region.

 

For 2004, net sales for the Modular Carpet segment increased $89.7 million (18.9%) versus 2003. The weighted average selling price per square yard in 2004 was up 4.4% compared with 2003, primarily due to our passing through to customers increases in our cost of petroleum-based raw materials. On a geographic basis, we experienced robust increases in net sales in the Americas and Asia-Pacific. Net sales in the European portion of the business were up slightly in local currency terms; however, the translation of European revenues into U.S. dollars favorably affected us and translated into a 10.5% increase in net sales for this portion of the business versus 2003. We believe our Modular Carpet business in North America continued to gain market share from floorcovering competition. We also saw significant increases in our sales into the retail (39% increase), institutional (37% increase) and healthcare (14% increase) market segments in North America, which we attribute to our focus on these market segments, including the growth of our i2 product line (discussed above). This product line comprised more than 30% of our U.S. modular carpet business in 2004. Sales improvement in Asia-Pacific is attributable in large part to a relatively good economic climate in that region and to sales of our Heuga brand modular carpet line at competitive, mid-level prices.

 

Bentley Prince Street Segment.  In our Bentley Prince Street segment, net sales for the three-month period ended July 2, 2006, increased $4.5 million (15.1%) versus the comparable period in 2005. For the six-month period ended July 2, 2006, net sales increased $5.5 million (9.6%) versus the comparable period in 2005. The sales increases for both periods were largely attributable to improving trends in the corporate office market and the successful implementation of our segmentation strategy, particularly in the hospitality and residential segments.

 

For 2005, net sales in the Bentley Prince Street segment increased $6.1 million (5.1%) versus 2004. The weighted average selling price per square yard in 2005 was up 8.2% compared with 2004, primarily due to our passing through to customers increases in our cost of petroleum-based raw materials. The increase in sales occurred primarily in the improving corporate office market segment, which was up 16.3%, as well as our success in the residential market, where sales were up by approximately 274%. These increases were offset by decreased sales in the retail, institutional, and hospitality markets.

 

Net sales in our Bentley Prince Street segment for 2004 increased $9.1 million (8.3%) versus 2003. The weighted average selling price per square yard in 2004 was up 5.3% compared with 2003, primarily due to our passing through to customers increases in our cost of petroleum-based materials. The increase in sales was attributable primarily to the improving corporate office market, as well as the success of our market segmentation strategy, particularly in the hospitality (178% increase), retail (66% increase) and healthcare (8% increase) market segments.

 

Fabrics Group Segment.  For the three-month period ended July 2, 2006, net sales for our Fabrics Group segment decreased $14.0 million (28.4%) versus the comparable period in 2005. For the six-month period ended July 2, 2006, net sales decreased $10.0 million (10.2%) versus the comparable period in 2005. These declines were the result of the sale of our European fabrics business in April 2006. The European fabrics business accounted for $0.0 million and $17.3 million in net sales during the three-month and six-month periods, respectively, ended July 2, 2006, versus $16.9 million and $32.7 million, respectively, in the comparable periods of 2005.

 

For 2005, net sales for our Fabrics Group segment increased $12.4 million (6.7%) versus 2004. The weighted average selling price per linear yard in 2005 was up 9.5% compared with 2004, primarily due to

our passing through to customers increases in our cost of petroleum-based raw materials. The increase in sales occurred primarily in the improving corporate office market segment (7% increase). Growth in our non-corporate office market segments was driven by healthcare (9% increase) and hospitality (6% increase) purchases.

 

For 2004, net sales for our Fabrics Group segment increased $12.9 million (7.4%) versus 2003. The increase was attributable primarily to the improving corporate office market. The weighted average selling price per linear yard in 2004 was up 2.5% compared with 2003, primarily due to our passing through to customers increases in our cost of petroleum-based raw materials.

 

Specialty Products Segment.  For the three-month period ended July 2, 2006, net sales for our Specialty Products segment decreased $1.1 million (27.9%) versus the comparable period in 2005. For the six-month period ended July 2, 2006, net sales decreased $2.6 million (30.4%) versus the comparable period in 2005. These declines were primarily the result of the loss of one major customer and the inconsistent order pattern of another major customer in the prior year periods.

 

For 2005, net sales for our Specialty Products segment increased $2.7 million (11.8%) versus 2004. The weighted average selling price per square yard in 2005 was up 11.6% compared with 2004, primarily due to our passing through to customers increases in the cost of petroleum-based raw materials. The increase in sales occurred primarily in the corporate office market.

 

For 2004, net sales for our Specialty Products segment increased $3.5 million (37.7%) versus 2003. The increase was attributable primarily to the improving corporate office market. The weighted average selling price per square yard in 2004 was up 19.0% compared with 2003, primarily due to our passing through to customers increases in the cost of petroleum-based raw materials.

 

Cost and Expenses

 

Company Consolidated.  The following table presents, on a consolidated basis for our operations, our overall cost of sales and selling, general and administrative expenses for the three-month and six-month periods ended July 2, 2006, and July 3, 2005, respectively:

 

 

The following table presents, on a consolidated basis for our operations, our overall cost of sales and selling, general and administrative expenses for the 2005, 2004 and 2003 fiscal years:

 

 

For the three-month period ended July 2, 2006, our cost of sales increased $8.2 million (4.8%) versus the comparable period in 2005, primarily due to increased raw material costs ($5.4 million) and labor costs ($1.0 million) associated with increased production levels during the second quarter of 2006. Our raw materials costs in the second quarter 2006 were up between 1-2% versus the same period in 2005, primarily due to increased prices for petrochemical products. As a percentage of net sales, cost of sales decreased to

68.6% for the quarter ended July 2, 2006, versus 68.7% for the comparable period in 2005. The percentage decrease was primarily due to the increased absorption of fixed manufacturing costs associated with increased production levels.

 

For the six-month period ended July 2, 2006, our cost of sales increased $16.3 million (4.9%) versus the comparable period in 2005, primarily due to increased raw material costs ($10.8 million) and labor costs ($1.6 million) associated with increased production levels during the first six months of 2006. Our raw materials costs in the first six months of 2006 were up between 1-2% versus the same period in 2005, primarily due to increased prices for petrochemical products. In addition, the translation of euros into U.S. dollars resulted in an approximately $3.6 million decrease in the cost of goods sold during the first six months in 2006 compared with the same period in 2005. As a percentage of net sales, cost of sales decreased to 68.6% for the six-month period ended July 2, 2006, versus 69.2% for the comparable period in 2005. The percentage decrease is primarily due to the increased absorption of fixed manufacturing costs associated with increased production levels.

 

For 2005, our cost of sales increased $64.8 million (10.5%) versus 2004, primarily due to increased raw material costs ($43.0 million) and labor costs ($8.4 million) associated with increased production levels during 2005. Our raw materials costs in 2005 were up an estimated 5-6% versus 2004, primarily due to increased prices for petroleum-based products. As a percentage of net sales, cost of sales decreased to 69.1% for 2005, versus 69.9% for 2004. The percentage decrease was primarily due to increased absorption of fixed manufacturing costs associated with increased production levels.

 

For 2004, our cost of sales increased $73.0 million (13.4%) versus 2003, primarily due to increased product ($48.2 million) and labor ($9.5 million) costs associated with increased production levels during 2004. Our raw materials costs in 2004 were up between 3-4% versus 2003, primarily due to increased prices for petroleum-based products. In addition, the translation of euros into U.S. dollars resulted in an approximately $14.4 million increase in cost of goods sold during 2004 compared with 2003. As a percentage of net sales, cost of sales decreased to 69.9% for 2004, versus 70.9% for 2003. The percentage decrease was primarily due to the following combination of factors, the relative impact of which we are unable to quantify precisely: (1) the increased absorption of fixed manufacturing costs as a result of improved sales volume, accounting for an estimated 60% of the percentage decrease; (2) the realization of the success of our restructuring initiatives which continue to strengthen and streamline operations throughout the global organization, accounting for an estimated 15% of the percentage decrease; and (3) improved manufacturing efficiencies in our Fabrics Group.

 

For the three-month period ended July 2, 2006, our selling, general and administrative expenses increased $2.4 million (4.2%) versus the comparable period in 2005. The primary components of this increase were commission payments due to the increased level of sales in the second quarter of 2006 and other selling costs such as planned investments in our residential flooring business and in expanding our sales force. As a percentage of net sales, selling, general and administrative expenses decreased to 22.6% for the quarter ended July 2, 2006, versus 22.7% for the comparable period in 2005.

 

For the six-month period ended July 2, 2006, our selling, general and administrative expenses increased $6.7 million (6.1%) versus the comparable period in 2005. The primary components of this increase were: (1) $5.2 million in selling costs due to the increased level of sales in the first six months of 2006; and (2) $1.2 million related to the performance vesting of restricted stock and the expensing of stock options in the first six months of 2006. As a percentage of net sales, selling, general and administrative expenses remained even at 22.9% for the six-month period ended July 2, 2006, versus 22.9% for the comparable period in 2005.

 

For 2005, our selling, general and administrative expenses increased $18.1 million (8.8%) versus 2004. The primary components of this increase were (1) $9.5 million due to increased investments in global marketing campaigns across our businesses; (2) $6.7 million of performance bonuses; and (3) $6.5 million in commission payments due to the increased level of sales in 2005. These increases were partially offset by reductions in administrative costs of $4.0 million. As a percentage of net sales, selling, general and administrative expenses decreased to 22.6% for 2005, compared with 23.2% for 2004. The percentage

decrease was primarily due to (1) the increased absorption of the fixed portion of administrative costs as a result of increased sales volume, and (2) the realization of the success of our restructuring initiatives which continued to strengthen and streamline operations throughout our global organization.

 

For 2004, our selling, general and administrative expenses increased $18.9 million (10.2%) versus 2003. The primary components of this increase were: (1) $6.2 million of performance bonuses paid in 2004 that were not paid in 2003; (2) $6.0 million in commission payments due to increased level of sales; (3) $5.9 million due to currency fluctuation (primarily the movement of the euro); and (4) $1.0 million of extra administrative costs due to the 53-week period in 2004 versus a 52-week period in 2003. As a percentage of net sales, selling, general and administrative expenses decreased to 23.2% for 2004, versus 24.2% for 2003. The percentage decrease was primarily due to (1) the realization of the success of our restructuring initiatives which continued to strengthen and streamline operations throughout the global organization, and (2) the increased absorption of the fixed portion of administrative costs as a result of improved sales volume.

 

Cost and Expenses by Segment.  The following table presents the combined cost of sales and selling, general and administrative expenses for each of our operating segments:

 

 

The following table presents the combined cost of sales and selling, general and administrative expenses for each of our operating segments for the 2005, 2004 and 2003 fiscal years:

 

 

Interest and Other Expense

 

For the three-month period ended July 2, 2006, interest expense decreased to $10.9 million, versus $11.5 million in the comparable period in 2005. For the six-month period ended July 2, 2006, interest expense decreased $0.9 million to $22.2 million, versus $23.1 million in the comparable period in 2005. These decreases were due primarily to the lower levels of debt outstanding on a daily basis during each of the first two quarters of 2006 versus the comparable periods in 2005, and were somewhat offset by an overall increase in interest rates when compared with the first two quarters of 2005.

For 2005, interest expense decreased $0.5 million versus 2004. The decrease was due primarily to the lower levels of debt outstanding on a daily basis during 2005 versus 2004, and was somewhat offset by an overall increase in interest rates when compared with 2004.

 

For 2004, interest expense increased $3.2 million versus 2003. This increase was due primarily to (1) increased borrowings during 2004 to support increased working capital levels as a result of improved sales volume during the period, and (2) a higher overall borrowing rate of interest in 2004 versus 2003.

 

Tax

 

Our effective tax rate in 2005 was 49.4%, compared with an effective tax rate of 38.6% in 2004. The increase in rate is primarily attributable to (1) taxes associated with our repatriation of previously unremitted foreign earnings, which is discussed above, (2) a reduced state tax benefit attributable to U.S. operations as a result of lower pre-tax losses in the U.S. in 2005, and (3) our provision of a valuation allowance against state net operating loss carryforwards which we do not expect to utilize. These factors were somewhat offset by decreases in the tax rate components associated with foreign operations and non-deductible business expenses.

 

Our effective tax rate in 2004 was 38.6%, compared with an effective tax benefit rate of 36.5% in 2003. The change in rate is primarily attributable to an overall increase in foreign taxes from 2003 to 2004.

 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

General

 

In our business, we require cash and other liquid assets primarily to purchase raw materials and to pay other manufacturing costs, in addition to funding normal course selling, general and administrative expenses, anticipated capital expenditures, and potential special projects. We generate our cash and other liquidity requirements from our operations and from borrowings or letters of credit under our revolving credit facility with a banking syndicate. Prior to June 18, 2003, we also generated liquidity through our accounts receivable securitization program (which was terminated on that date in connection with an amendment and restatement of our revolving credit facility). We believe that our liquidity position will provide sufficient funds to meet our current commitments and other cash requirements for the foreseeable future. We also believe that we will be able to continue to enhance the generation of free cash flow (particularly in the short term because we have no significant debt maturity until April 2008) through the following initiatives:

 

 

Historically, we use more cash in the first half of the fiscal year, as we fund insurance premiums, tax payments, employee bonuses, and inventory build-up in preparation for the holiday/vacation season of our international operations. However, we believe that our liquidity position and cash provided by operations will provide sufficient funds to meet our current commitments and other cash requirements for the foreseeable future, primarily because we had over $91.8 million of additional borrowing capacity under our revolving credit facility as of July 2, 2006, and we have no maturities of long-term debt until April 2008.

 

In addition, we have a high contribution margin business with low capital expenditure requirements. Contribution margin represents variable gross profit margin less the variable component of selling, general and administrative expenses, and for us is an indicator of profit on incremental sales after the fixed components of cost of goods sold and selling, general and administrative expenses have been recovered. While contribution margin should not be construed as a substitute for gross margin, which is determined in accordance with GAAP, it is included herein to provide additional information with respect to our potential

for profitability. In addition, we believe that investors find contribution margin to be a useful tool for measuring our profitability on an operating basis.

 

Nevertheless, our ability to generate cash from operating activities is uncertain because we are subject to, and recently have experienced, fluctuations in our level of net sales. As a result, we cannot assure you that our business will generate cash flow from operations in an amount sufficient to enable us to pay the interest and principal on our debt or to fund our other liquidity needs.

 

At July 2, 2006, we had $27.4 million in cash, and we had $1.6 million in borrowings and $11.4 million in letters of credit outstanding under our revolving credit facility. As of July 2, 2006, we could have incurred $91.8 million of additional borrowings under our revolving credit facility.

 

We have approximately $68.9 million in contractual cash obligations due within the next 12 months, which includes, among other things, capital expenditure purchase commitments and interest payments on our debt. We currently estimate aggregate capital expenditures will be between $20 million and $25 million for 2006. Based on current interest rate levels, we expect our aggregate interest expense for 2006 to be between $41 million and $43 million, before taking into account the application of net proceeds from this offering.

 

In February 2004, we issued $135 million in 91/2% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2014. Proceeds from the issuance of these notes were used to redeem in full our previously outstanding 9.5% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2005, with the remainder of $7.5 million (after fees and expenses) used to reduce borrowings under our revolving credit facility.

 

It is important for you to consider that our revolving credit facility matures in June 2011, and our outstanding senior and senior subordinated notes mature at times ranging from 2008 to 2014. We cannot assure you that we will be able to renegotiate or refinance any of our debt on commercially reasonable terms or at all. If we are unable to refinance our debt or obtain new financing, we would have to consider other options, such as selling assets to meet our debt service obligations and other liquidity needs, or using cash, if available, that would have been used for other business purposes.

 

Revolving Credit Facility

 

We have a revolving credit facility in the U.S. that provides for a maximum aggregate amount of loans and letters of credit of up to $125 million at any one time, subject to the borrowing bases described below. The key features of the revolving credit facility are as follows:

 

 

The revolving credit facility also includes various reporting, affirmative and negative covenants, and other provisions that restrict our ability to take certain actions, including provisions that restrict our ability to repay our long-term indebtedness unless we meet a specified minimum excess availability test.

 

Interest Rates and Fees.  Interest on borrowings and letters of credit under the revolving credit facility is charged at varying rates computed by applying a margin (ranging from 0.0% to 0.25%, in the case of advances at a prime interest rate, and 1.25% to 2.25%, in the case of advances at LIBOR) over a baseline rate (such as the prime interest rate or LIBOR), depending on the type of borrowing and our average excess borrowing availability during the most recently completed fiscal quarter. In addition, we pay an unused line fee on the facility ranging from 0.25% to 0.375% depending on our average excess borrowing availability during the most recently completed fiscal quarter.

 

Prepayments.  Our revolving credit facility requires prepayment from the proceeds of certain asset sales.

 

Covenants.  The revolving credit facility also limits our ability, among other things, to:

 

 

We are presently in compliance with all covenants under the revolving credit facility and anticipate that we will remain in compliance with the covenants for the foreseeable future.

 

Events of Default.  If Interface, Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries fails to perform or breaches any of the affirmative or negative covenants under the revolving credit facility, or if other specified events occur (such as a bankruptcy or similar event or a change of control of Interface, Inc. or certain subsidiaries, or if we breach or fail to perform any covenant or agreement contained in any instrument relating to any of our other indebtedness exceeding $10 million), after giving effect to any applicable notice and right to cure provisions, an event of default will exist. If an event of default exists and is continuing, the lenders’ co-agents may, and upon the written request of a specified percentage of the lender group, shall,

 

 

Collateral.  The facility is secured by substantially all of the assets of Interface, Inc. and its domestic subsidiaries (subject to exceptions for certain immaterial subsidiaries), including all of the stock of our domestic subsidiaries and up to 65% of the stock of our first-tier material foreign subsidiaries. If an event of default occurs under the revolving credit facility, the lenders’ collateral agent may, upon the request of a specified percentage of lenders, exercise remedies with respect to the collateral, including, in some instances, foreclosing mortgages on real estate assets, taking possession of or selling personal property assets, collecting accounts receivables, or exercising proxies to take control of the pledged stock of domestic and first-tier material foreign subsidiaries.

 

Senior and Senior Subordinated Notes

 

The indentures governing our 7.30% Senior Notes due 2008, 10.375% Senior Notes due 2010, and 91/2% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2014, on a collective basis, contain covenants that limit or restrict our ability to:

 

 

 

In addition, each of the indentures governing our 10.375% Senior Notes due 2010 and 91/2% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2014 contains a covenant that requires us to make an offer to purchase the outstanding notes under such indenture in the event of a change of control of Interface (as defined in each respective indenture).

 

Each series of notes is guaranteed, fully, unconditionally and jointly and severally, on an unsecured basis by each of our material U.S. subsidiaries. If we breach or fail to perform any of the affirmative or negative covenants under one of these indentures, or if other specified events occur (such as a bankruptcy or similar event), after giving effect to any applicable notice and right to cure provisions, an event of default will exist. An event of default also will exist under each indenture if we breach or fail to perform any covenant or agreement contained in any other instrument (including without limitation any other indenture) relating to any of our indebtedness exceeding $20 million (or $25 million in the case of the indenture governing our 7.30% Senior Notes due 2008) and such default or failure results in the indebtedness becoming due and payable. If an event of default exists and is continuing, the trustee of the series of notes at issue (or the holders of at least 25% of the principal amount of such notes) may declare the principal amount of the notes and accrued interest thereon immediately due and payable (except in the case of bankruptcy, in which case such amounts are immediately due and payable even in the absence of such a declaration).

 

In 2005, we repurchased $2.0 million of our 7.30% Senior Notes due 2008. During the six months ended July 2, 2006, we repurchased an additional $30.8 million of the 7.30% Senior Notes.

 

Analysis of Cash Flows

 

Our primary sources of cash during the six-month period ended July 2, 2006, were (1) $28.8 million received from the sale of our European fabrics business, (2) $5.7 million from the exercise of employee stock options, and (3) $1.6 million of borrowings on our revolving credit facility. The primary uses of cash for the six months ended July 2, 2006 were (1) $31.0 million for repurchases of the Company’s 7.30% Senior Notes, (2) $21.9 million related to an increase in inventory levels, and (3) $17.2 million for bond interest payments.

 

Our primary sources of cash during 2005 were (1) $49.3 million from continuing operations, (2) $12.0 million from discontinued operations, and (3) $3.0 million from the issuance of stock upon the exercise of employee stock options. The primary uses of cash during 2005 were (1) $25.5 million for additions to property and equipment at our manufacturing facilities, (2) $2.7 million for purchases of intellectual property, (3) $2.3 million for deposits on manufacturing equipment, and (4) $2.0 million for reduction of Senior Notes.

 

Our primary sources of cash during 2004 were (1) $28.3 million from continuing operations, (2) $7.5 million of net proceeds (after payment of fees, expenses and the redemption amount, including accrued interest, of our 9.5% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2005) from the issuance of our 91/2% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2014, (3) $4.4 million from the sale of a building, and (4) $4.4 million from the issuance of common stock upon the exercise of employee stock options. The primary uses of cash during 2004 were (1) $11.7 million in conjunction with discontinued operations (net of $7.0 million cash received), (2) $15.8 million for additions to property and equipment in our manufacturing facilities, (3) $4.2 million of costs associated with the issuance of our 91/2% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2014, (4) $2.0 million

primarily for deposits on manufacturing equipment, and (5) $1.4 million related to an increase in notes receivable.

 

Our primary sources of cash in 2003 were (1) $15.3 million from reductions in inventory and increases in accounts payable, which, as described below, were offset by the termination and payoff of our accounts receivable securitization program, and (2) $6.0 million from the sale of other assets. The primary uses of cash in 2003 were (1) $30.0 million associated with the termination and payoff of our accounts receivable securitization program, (2) $16.2 million for additions to property and equipment at our manufacturing facilities, and (3) $3.4 million of costs associated with the amendment and restatement of our revolving credit facility.

 

We believe that cash provided by operations and long-term loan commitments will provide adequate funds for current commitments and other requirements in the foreseeable future.

 

Cash flows from discontinued operations are included in operating cash flows for all years presented, as there were no investing or financing activities related to these discontinued operations. The absence of cash flows from discontinued operations is not expected to have any significant impact on future liquidity and capital resources.

 

Funding Obligations

 

We have various contractual obligations that we must fund as part of our normal operations. The following table discloses aggregate information about our contractual obligations (including the contractual obligations of our discontinued operations) and the periods in which payments are due. The amounts and time periods are measured from September 30, 2006.

 

 

 

 

Critical Accounting Policies

 

High-quality financial statements require rigorous application of high-quality accounting policies. The policies discussed below are considered by management to be critical to an understanding of our consolidated financial statements because their application places the most significant demands on management’s judgment, with financial reporting results relying on estimation about the effects of matters that are inherently uncertain. Specific risks for these critical accounting policies are described in the following paragraphs. For all of these policies, management cautions that future events may not develop as forecasted, and the best estimates routinely require adjustment.

 

Revenue Recognition.  A portion of our revenues is derived from long-term contracts that are accounted for under the provisions of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Statement of Position No. 81-1, “Accounting for Performance of Construction-Type and Certain Production-Type Contracts”. Long-term fixed-price contracts are recorded on the percentage of completion basis using the ratio of costs incurred to estimated total costs at completion as the measurement basis for progress toward completion and revenue recognition. Any losses identified on contracts are recognized immediately. Contract accounting requires significant judgment relative to assessing risks, estimating contract costs and making related assumptions for schedule and technical issues. With respect to contract change orders, claims or similar items, judgment must be used in estimating related amounts and assessing the potential for realization. These amounts are only included in contract value when they can be reliably estimated and realization is probable.

 

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets.  Long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. If the sum of the expected future undiscounted cash flow is less than the carrying amount of the asset, an impairment is indicated. A loss is then recognized for the difference, if any, between the fair value of the asset (as estimated by management using its best judgment) and the carrying value of the asset. If actual market value is less favorable than that estimated by management, additional write-downs may be required.

 

Deferred Income Tax Assets and Liabilities.  The carrying values of deferred income tax assets and liabilities reflect the application of our income tax accounting policies in accordance with SFAS No. 109, “Accounting for Income Taxes”, and are based on management’s assumptions and estimates regarding future operating results and levels of taxable income, as well as management’s judgments regarding the interpretation of the provisions of SFAS 109. The carrying values of liabilities for income taxes currently payable are based on management’s interpretation of applicable tax laws, and incorporate management’s assumptions and judgments regarding the use of tax planning strategies in various taxing jurisdictions. The use of different estimates, assumptions and judgments in connection with accounting for income taxes may result in materially different carrying values of income tax assets and liabilities and results of operations.

 

We record a valuation allowance to reduce our deferred tax assets when it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will expire before realization of the benefit or that future deductibility is not probable. The ultimate realization of the deferred tax assets depends on the ability to generate sufficient taxable income of the appropriate character in the future. This requires us to use estimates and make assumptions regarding significant future events such as the taxability of entities operating in the various taxing jurisdictions.

 

Goodwill.  Pursuant to SFAS 142, we test goodwill for impairment at least annually. We use an outside consultant to help prepare valuations of reporting units, and those valuations are compared with the respective book values of the reporting units to determine whether any goodwill impairment exists. In preparing the valuations, past, present and expected future performance is considered. If impairment is indicated, a loss is recognized for the difference, if any, between the fair value of the goodwill associated with the reporting unit and the book value of that goodwill. If the actual fair value of the goodwill is determined to be less than that estimated, an additional write-down may be required.

Inventories.  We determine the value of inventories using the lower of cost or market. We write down inventories for the difference between the carrying value of the inventories and their estimated market value. If actual market conditions are less favorable than those projected by management, additional write-downs may be required.

 

We estimate our reserves for inventory obsolescence by continuously examining our inventories to determine if there are indicators that carrying values exceed net realizable values. Experience has shown that significant indicators that could require the need for additional inventory write-downs are the age of the inventory, the length of its product life cycles, anticipated demand for our products, and current economic conditions. While we believe that adequate write-downs for inventory obsolescence have been made in the consolidated financial statements, consumer tastes and preferences will continue to change and we could experience additional inventory write-downs in the future. Our inventory reserve on July 2, 2006, and January 1, 2006, was $11.8 million and $12.0 million, respectively. To the extent that actual obsolescence of our inventory differs from our estimate by 10%, our net income would be higher or lower by approximately $0.9 million, on an after-tax basis.

 

Pension Benefits.  Net pension expense recorded is based on, among other things, assumptions about the discount rate, estimated return on plan assets and salary increases. While management believes these assumptions are reasonable, changes in these and other factors and differences between actual and assumed changes in the present value of liabilities or assets of our plans above certain thresholds could cause net annual expense to increase or decrease materially from year to year. The actuarial assumptions used in our salary continuation plan and our foreign defined benefit plans reporting are reviewed periodically and compared with external benchmarks to ensure that they appropriately account for our future pension benefit obligation. The expected long-term rate of return on plan assets assumption is based on weighted-average expected returns for each asset class. Expected returns reflect a combination of historical performance analysis and the forward-looking views of the financial markets, and include input from actuaries, investment service firms and investment managers. As of January 1, 2006, a 1% increase in the actuarial assumption for discount rate would decrease our projected benefit obligation by approximately $32.3 million. A 1% decrease in the discount rate would increase our projected benefit obligation by approximately $40.7 million.

 

Environmental Remediation.  We provide for remediation costs and penalties when the responsibility to remediate is probable and the amount of associated costs is reasonably determinable. Remediation liabilities are accrued based on estimates of known environmental exposures and are discounted in certain instances. We regularly monitor the progress of environmental remediation. Should studies indicate that the cost of remediation is to be more than previously estimated, an additional accrual would be recorded in the period in which such determination is made. Since 2002, certain developments transpired with respect to our estimated environmental liability associated with our Chatham fabrics operations in Elkin, North Carolina. (See the discussion of “Accrued Expenses” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.) As a result, we reduced the amount of our accrual for such liabilities to $2.1 million. As of July 2, 2006, the accrual for these liabilities was $1.9 million.

 

Allowances for Doubtful Accounts.  We maintain allowances for doubtful accounts for estimated losses resulting from the inability of customers to make required payments. Estimating this amount requires us to analyze the financial strengths of our customers. If the financial condition of our customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional allowances may be required. By its nature, such an estimate is highly subjective, and it is possible that the amount of accounts receivable that we are unable to collect may be different than the amount initially estimated. Our allowance for doubtful accounts on July 2, 2006, and January 1, 2006, was $6.8 million and $6.2 million, respectively. To the extent the actual collectibility of our accounts receivable differs from our estimates by 10%, our net income would be higher or lower by approximately $0.4 million, on an after-tax basis, in each period depending on whether the actual collectibility was better or worse, respectively, than the estimated allowance.

Product Warranties.  We typically provide limited warranties with respect to certain attributes of our carpet products (for example, warranties regarding excessive surface wear, edge ravel and static electricity) for periods ranging from ten to fifteen years, depending on the particular carpet product. We typically warrant that services performed will be free from defects in workmanship for a period of one year following completion. For our fabrics products, we typically provide a five year limited warranty against manufacturing defects and nonconformity to specifications. In the event of a breach of warranty, the remedy typically is limited to repair of the problem or replacement of the affected product. We record a provision related to warranty costs based on historical experience and periodically adjust these provisions to reflect changes in actual experience. Our warranty reserve on July 2, 2006, and January 1, 2006, was $2.5 million. Actual warranty expense incurred could vary significantly from amounts that we estimate. To the extent the actual warranty expense differs from our estimates by 10%, our net income would be higher or lower by approximately $0.2 million, on an after-tax basis, in each period depending on whether the actual expense is lower or higher, respectively, than the estimated provision.

 

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

 

We are not a party to any material off-balance sheet arrangements.

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

In September 2006, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued SFAS No. 158, “Employers’ Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans — an amendment of FASB Statements No. 87, 88, 106, and 132(R).” SFAS No. 158 requires an employer to recognize a plan’s funded status in its statement of financial position, measure a plan’s assets and obligations as of the end of the employer’s fiscal year, and recognize the changes in a defined benefit post-retirement plan’s funded status in comprehensive income in the year in which the changes occur. SFAS No. 158’s requirement to recognize the funded status of a benefit plan and new disclosure requirements are effective as of the end of the fiscal year ending after December 15, 2006 (i.e., the end of our current fiscal year) on a prospective basis. As the impact of this statement is largely dependant on the year-end actuarial valuation of our defined benefit plans, we are currently assessing the impact SFAS No. 158 will have on our consolidated financial statements.

 

In July 2006, the FASB issued FASB Interpretation (“FIN”) No. 48, “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes”. In summary, FIN 48 requires that all tax positions subject to Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 109, “Accounting for Income Taxes”, be analyzed using a two-step approach. The first step requires an entity to determine if a tax position is more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination. In the second step, the tax benefit is measured as the largest amount of benefit determined on a cumulative probability basis, that is more-likely-than-not to be realized upon ultimate settlement. FIN 48 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2006, with any adjustment in a company’s tax provision being accounted for as a cumulative effect of accounting change in beginning equity. We are in the process of determining the effect, if any, the adoption of FIN 48 will have on our consolidated financial statements.

 

In July 2005, the FASB issued a Staff Position (“FSP”) interpreting APB Opinion No. 18, “The Equity Method of Accounting for Investments in Common Stock”. Specifically, the FASB issued FSP APB No. 18-1, “Accounting by an Investor for Its Proportionate Share of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income of an Investee Accounted for under the Equity Method in Accordance with APB Opinion No. 18 upon a Loss of Significant Influence”. This FSP provides that an investor’s proportionate share of an investee’s equity adjustments for “other comprehensive income” should be offset against the carrying value of the investment at the time significant influence is lost. At that time, an investor would reduce its investment account, to no less than zero, with any balance remaining reflected in income. The guidance in this FSP is required to be applied to the first reporting period beginning after July 12, 2005. This FSP did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In June 2005, the FASB issued a FSP interpreting SFAS No. 150, “Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Both Liabilities and Equity”. Specifically, the FASB issued FSP FAS No. 150-5, “Issuer’s Accounting under FASB Statement No. 150 for Freestanding Warrants and Other Similar Instruments on Shares That Are Redeemable”. This FSP addresses whether freestanding warrants and other similar instruments on shares that are redeemable (puttable or mandatorily redeemable) are subject to the requirements in SFAS No. 150, regardless of the timing of the redemption feature or the redemption price. The guidance in this FSP is required to be applied to the first reporting period beginning after June 30, 2005. If the guidance in the FSP results in changes to previously reported information, a cumulative effect adjustment would be required. The adoption of this FSP did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

 

In June 2005, the FASB issued FSP No. 143-1 (“FSP FAS No. 143-1”), “Accounting for Electronic Equipment Waste Obligations”. FSP FAS No. 143-1 addresses the accounting for obligations associated with the Directive 2002/96/EC on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment adopted by the European Union (“EU”). FSP FAS No. 143-1 is effective upon the later of the first reporting period that ends after June 8, 2005, or the date that the EU-member country adopts the law. FSP FAS No. 143-1 did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

 

In May 2005, the FASB issued SFAS No. 154, “Accounting Changes and Error Corrections — a replacement of APB Opinion No. 20 and FASB Statement No. 3”. SFAS No. 154 changes the requirements for the accounting for and reporting of a change in accounting principle. This Statement applies to all voluntary changes in accounting principle. It also applies to changes required by an accounting pronouncement in the unusual instance that the pronouncement does not include specific transition provisions. When a pronouncement includes specific transition provisions, those provisions should be followed. SFAS No. 154 is effective for accounting changes and corrections of errors made in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2005. We adopted SFAS No. 154 on January 2, 2006. The adoption of SFAS No. 154 did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

 

In March 2005, the FASB issued FIN No. 47, “Accounting for Conditional Asset Retirement Obligations — An Interpretation of FASB Statement No. 143”. This interpretation clarifies the term of conditional asset retirement obligations as used in SFAS No. 143, “Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations”. FIN 47 is effective no later than the end of fiscal years ending after December 15, 2005. The adoption of FIN 47 did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

 

In December 2004, the FASB issued SFAS No. 123R, “Share-Based Payment”. This statement is a revision to SFAS No. 123, “Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation”, and supersedes APB Opinion No. 25, “Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees”. This statement establishes standards for the accounting for transactions in which an entity exchanges its equity instruments for goods or services, primarily focusing on the accounting for transactions in which an entity obtains employee services in share-based payment transactions. Companies will be required to measure the cost of employee services received in exchange for an award of equity instruments based on the grant-date fair value of the award (with limited exceptions). That cost will be recognized over the period during which an employee is required to provide service — the requisite service period (usually the vesting period), in exchange for the award. The grant-date fair value of employee share options and similar instruments will be estimated using option-pricing models. If an equity award is modified after the grant date, incremental compensation cost will be recognized in an amount equal to the excess of the fair value of the modified award over the fair value of the original award immediately before the modification. SFAS No. 123R also requires the benefits of tax deductions in excess of recognized compensation cost be reported as a financing cash flow rather than as an operating cash flow as is currently required. As such, in the periods after adoption, this requirement of SFAS No. 123R will reduce net operating cash flows and increase net financing cash flow. SFAS No. 123R is effective for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2005, due to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Rule 2005-57, which amended the effective date of SFAS No. 123R. Accordingly, we adopted SFAS No. 123R on January 2, 2006. See Note 6 in our unaudited interim consolidated financial statements included in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 2, 2006, for further discussion of the impact of our adoption of SFAS No. 123R on our results of operations and earnings per share.

In December 2004, the FASB issued FASB Staff Position No. 109-2 (“FSP FAS No. 109-2”), “Accounting and Disclosure Guidance for the Foreign Earnings Repatriation Provision within the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004”. FSP FAS No. 109-2 amended the accounting literature that required companies to record deferred taxes on foreign earnings, unless they intended to indefinitely reinvest those earnings outside the U.S. This pronouncement temporarily allowed companies that were evaluating whether to repatriate foreign earnings under the AJCA to delay recognizing any related taxes until that decision was made. This pronouncement also required companies that were considering repatriating earnings to disclose the status of their evaluation and the potential amounts being considered for repatriation. The AJCA provided for a special one-time tax deduction of 85 percent of certain foreign earnings that were repatriated. During the year ended January 1, 2006, we repatriated $35.9 million of such foreign earnings. Consequently, we have recorded a provision for taxes on such foreign earnings of approximately $3.4 million in 2005 related to such repatriation.

 

The FASB has issued a FSP amending AICPA Statement of Position (“SOP”) No. 78-9, “Accounting for Investments in Real Estate Ventures”. Specifically, the FASB issued FSP SOP No. 78-9-1, “Interaction of AICPA Statement of Position 78-9 and EITF Issue No. 04-5”. The amendment was necessary because the consensus reached in EITF Issue No. 04-5, “Determining Whether a General Partner, or the General Partners as a Group, Controls a Limited Partnership or Similar Entity When the Limited Partners Have Certain Rights”, conflicted with certain guidance in SOP No. 78-9. This FSP eliminates the concept of “important rights” and replaces it with the concepts of “kick-out rights” and “substantive participating rights” as defined in Issue 04-5. The FSP also clarifies that the effect of the rights held by minority partners on the assessment of control, and therefore consolidation, of a general partnership should be the same as the evaluation of limited partners’ rights in a limited partnership. The FSP notes that the consensus reached by the EITF applies to all industries, not just real estate ventures. The guidance in this FSP is effective after June 29, 2005 for general partners of all new partnerships formed and for existing partnerships for which the partnership agreements are modified. The FSP applies to general partners in all other partnerships effective no later than the beginning of the first reporting period in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2005. The application of guidance in this FSP did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

 

In November 2004, the FASB issued SFAS No. 151, “Inventory Costs, an amendment of Accounting Research Bulletin No. 43, Chapter 4”. SFAS No. 151 clarifies the accounting for abnormal amounts of idle facility expense, freight, handling costs and wasted material. SFAS No. 151 is effective for inventory costs incurred during fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2005. The adoption of SFAS 151 did not have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.

 

Introduction and General

 

We are the worldwide leader in design, production and sales of modular carpet. Our global market share of the specified carpet tile segment is approximately 35%, which we believe is more than double that of our nearest competitor. In recent years, modular carpet sales growth in the floorcovering industry has significantly outpaced the growth of the overall industry, as architects, designers and end users increasingly recognized the unique and superior attributes of modular carpet, including its dynamic design capabilities, greater economic value (which includes lower costs as a result of reduced waste in both installation and replacement), and installation ease and speed. Our Modular Carpet segment sales, which do not include modular carpet sales in our Bentley Prince Street segment, grew from $442 million to $646 million during the 2002 to 2005 period, representing a 13.5% compound annual growth rate.

 

We are also a leading manufacturer and marketer of other products for the commercial interiors industry, including broadloom carpet, panel fabrics and upholstery fabrics. Our Bentley Prince Street brand is the leader in the high-end, designer-oriented sector in the broadloom market segment, where custom design and high quality are the principal specifying and purchasing factors. Our Fabrics Group includes the leading U.S. manufacturer of panel fabrics for use in open plan office furniture systems, with a market share we believe to be approximately 50%, and the leading manufacturer of contract upholstery fabrics sold to office furniture manufacturers in the United States, with a market share we believe to be approximately 30%.

 

As a global company with a reputation for high quality, reliability and premium positioning, we market products in over 100 countries under established brand names such as InterfaceFLOR, Heuga, Bentley Prince Street and FLOR in modular carpet; Bentley Prince Street and Prince Street House and Home in broadloom carpet; Guilford of Maine, Chatham and Terratex in interior fabrics and upholstery products; and Intersept in antimicrobial chemicals. Our principal geographic markets are the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific, where our sales were approximately 62%, 31% and 7%, respectively, of total net sales for fiscal year 2005.

 

Capitalizing on our leadership in modular carpet for the corporate office segment, we embarked on a segmentation strategy in 2001 to increase our presence and market share for modular carpet sales in non-corporate office market segments, such as government, healthcare, hospitality, education and retail space, which combined are almost twice the size of the approximately $1 billion U.S. corporate office segment. In 2003, we expanded our segmentation strategy to target the approximately $11 billion U.S. residential market segment for carpet. As a result, our mix of corporate office versus non-corporate office modular carpet sales in the Americas shifted to 48% and 52%, respectively, for the first six months of 2006 compared to 64% and 36%, respectively, in 2001. We believe the appeal and utilization of modular carpet is reaching a tipping point of acceptance in each of these non-corporate office segments, and we are using our considerable skills and experience with designing, producing and marketing modular products that make us the market leader in the corporate office segment to support and facilitate our penetration into these new segments around the world.

 

Our modular carpet leadership, strong business model and segmentation strategy, implementation of strategic restructuring initiatives we commenced in 2000, and sustained strategic investments in innovative product concepts and designs enabled us to weather successfully the unprecedented downturn, both in severity and duration, that affected the commercial interiors industry from 2001 to 2003. As a result, we were well-positioned to capitalize on improved market conditions when the commercial interiors industry began to recover in 2004. From 2003 to 2005, we increased our net sales from $766.5 million to $985.8 million, a 13.4% compound annual growth rate. We increased our net sales from $481.3 million in the first six months of 2005 to $509.3 million in the first six months of 2006, notwithstanding the April 2006 sale of our European fabrics business, which had net sales of $62.8 million in 2005. We expect further improvements in net sales and other related value measurements as we build upon our core strengths and strategies.

Our Strengths

 

Our principal competitive strengths include:

 

Market Leader in Attractive Modular Carpet Segment.  We are the world’s leading manufacturer of carpet tile with a market share in the specified carpet tile segment (which is the segment where architects and designers are heavily involved in “specifying”, or selecting, the carpet) of approximately 35%, which we believe is more than double that of our nearest competitor. Modular carpet has become more prevalent across all commercial interiors markets as designers, architects and end users become more familiar with its unique attributes. We are driving this trend with our product innovations and designs discussed below, and we expect that this trend will continue. According to the 2006 Floor Focus interiors industry survey of the top 250 designers in the United States, carpet tile was ranked as the number one “hot product” for the eighth consecutive year. We believe that we are well positioned to lead and capitalize upon the continued shift to modular carpet both domestically and around the world.

 

Established Brands and Reputation for Quality, Reliability and Leadership.  Our products are known in the industry for their high quality, reliability and premium positioning in the marketplace. Our established brand names in carpets and interior fabrics are leaders in the industry. The 2006 Floor Focus survey ranked an Interface brand first or second in each of the five survey categories for carpet: design, quality, service, performance and value. Interface companies also ranked first and fourth in the category of “best overall business experience” for carpet companies in this survey. On the international front, Heuga is one of the well recognized brand names in carpet tiles for commercial, institutional and residential use. Guilford of Maine, Chatham and Terratex are leading brand names in their respective markets for commercial interior fabrics. More generally, as the appeal and utilization of modular carpet continues to expand into new market segments such as education, hospitality and retail space, our reputation as the inventor and pioneer of modular carpet — as well as our established brands and leading market position for modular carpet in the corporate office segment — will enhance our competitive advantage in marketing to the customers in these new markets.

 

Innovative Product Design and Development Capabilities.  Our product design and development capabilities have long given us a significant competitive advantage, and they continue to do so as modular carpet’s appeal and utilization expand across virtually every market segment and around the globe. One of our best design innovations is our i2 modular product line, which includes our popular Entropy product for which we received a patent in 2005 on the key elements of its design. The i2 line introduced and features random patterning designs (which allow for mergeable dye lots and permit initial installation and replacement without regard to the directional orientation of the carpet tiles), cost-efficient installation and maintenance, interactive flexibility, and recycled and recyclable materials. Our i2 line of products, which now comprises more than 30% of our total U.S. modular carpet business, represents a differentiated category of smart, environmentally sensitive and stylish modular carpet, and Entropy has become the fastest growing product in our history. The award-winning design firm David Oakey Designs had a pivotal role in developing our i2 product line, and our long-standing exclusive relationship with David Oakley Designs remains vibrant and augments our internal research, development and design staff. Another recent innovation is our patent-pending TacTiles carpet tile installation system, which uses small squares of adhesive plastic film to connect intersecting carpet tiles, thus eliminating the need for traditional carpet adhesive resulting in a reduction in installation time and waste materials.

 

Make-to-Order and Global Manufacturing Capabilities.  The success of our modernization and restructuring of operations over the past several years gives us a distinct competitive advantage in meeting two principal requirements of the specified products markets we primarily target — that is, providing custom samples quickly and on-time delivery of customized final products. We also can generate realistic digital samples that allow us to create a virtually unlimited number of new design concepts and distribute them instantly for customer review, while at the same time reducing sampling waste. Approximately 85% of our modular carpet products in the United States and Asia-Pacific markets are now made-to-order and we are increasing our made-to-order production in Europe as well. Our make-to-order capabilities not only enhance our marketing and sales, they significantly improve our inventory turns. Our global manufacturing

capabilities in modular carpet production are an important component of this strength, and give us an advantage in serving the needs of multinational corporate customers that require products and services at various locations around the world. Our manufacturing locations across four continents enable us to compete effectively with local producers in our international markets, while giving international customers more favorable delivery times and freight costs.

 

Recognized Global Leadership in Ecological Sustainability.  Our long-standing goal and commitment to be ecologically “sustainable” — that is, the point at which we are no longer a net “taker” from the earth and do no harm to the biosphere — has emerged as a competitive strength for our business and remains a strategic initiative. It now includes Mission Zero, our recently launched global branding initiative, which represents our mission to eliminate any negative impact our companies may have on the environment by the year 2020. Our acknowledged leadership position and expertise in this area resonate deeply with many of our customers and prospects around the globe, and provide us a differentiating advantage in competing for business among architects, designers and end users of our products, who increasingly make purchase decisions based on “green” factors. The 2006 Floor Focus survey, which named us the top company among the “Green Leaders” and gave our carpet tile the top honors for “Green Kudos”, found that 74% of such designers consider sustainability an added benefit and 20% consider it a “make or break” issue when deciding what products to recommend or purchase.

 

Strong Operating Leverage Position.  Our operating leverage, which we define as our ability to realize profit on incremental sales, is strong and allows us to increase earnings at a higher rate than our rate of increase in net sales. Our operating leverage position is primarily a result of (1) the specified, high-end nature and premium positioning of our principal products in the marketplace, and (2) the mix of fixed and variable costs in our manufacturing processes that allows us to increase production of most of our products without significant incremental increases in fixed costs. For example, while net sales from our Modular Carpet segment increased from $442.3 million in 2002 to $646.2 million in 2005, our operating income from that segment increased from $42.0 million (9.5% of net sales) in 2002 to $77.4 million (12.0% of net sales) in 2005.

 

Experienced and Motivated Management and Sales Force.  An important component of our competitive position is the quality of our management team and its commitment to developing and maintaining an engaged and accountable work force. Our team is highly skilled and dedicated to guiding our overall growth and expansion into our targeted market segments, while maintaining our leadership in traditional markets and our high contribution margins. We utilize an internal marketing and predominantly commissioned sales force of approximately 660 experienced personnel, stationed at over 70 locations in over 30 countries, to market our products and services in person to our customers. We have also developed special features for our incentive compensation and our sales and marketing training programs in order to promote performance and facilitate leadership by our executives in strategic areas.

 

Our Business Strategy and Principal Initiatives

 

Our business strategy is (1) to continue to use our leading position in the modular carpet segment and our product design and global make-to-order capabilities as a platform from which to drive acceptance of modular carpet products across industry segments, while maintaining our leadership position in the corporate office market segment, and (2) to return to our historical profit levels in the high-end, designer-oriented sector of the broadloom carpet market and in the interior fabrics market. We will seek to increase revenues and profitability by capitalizing on the above strengths and pursuing the following key strategic initiatives:

 

Continue to Penetrate Non-Corporate Office Market Segments.  In both our floorcoverings and fabrics businesses, we will continue our focus on product design and marketing and sales efforts on non-corporate office market segments such as government, education, healthcare, hospitality, retail and residential space. We began this initiative as part of our market segmentation strategy in 2001 primarily to reduce our exposure to the more severe economic cyclicality of the corporate office segment, and we have shifted our mix of corporate office versus non-corporate office modular carpet sales in the Americas to 48% and 52%,

respectively, for the first six months of 2006 from 64% and 36%, respectively, in fiscal 2001. To implement this strategy, we:

 

 

As part of this strategy, we launched our FLOR and Prince Street House and Home lines of products in 2003 to focus on the approximately $11 billion U.S. residential carpet market segment. These products were specifically created to bring high style modular and broadloom floorcovering to the U.S. residential market. FLOR is offered in over 1,200 Lowe’s stores, many specialty retailers, over the Internet and in a number of major retail catalogs. Through such direct and indirect retailing, FLOR sales have grown dramatically, more than doubling from 2004 to 2005. Prince Street House and Home brings new colors and patterns to the high-end consumer market with a collection of broadloom carpet and rugs sold through hundreds of retail stores and interior designers. Through a new agreement between our FLOR brand and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, we expect to further our penetration of the U.S. residential market with a line of Martha Stewart-branded carpet tiles that we anticipate offering in the second half of 2007. Through our Heuga Home division, we have been marketing modular carpet to the residential segment in select international markets since 2003. We plan to increase our focus on such international residential soft floorcovering markets, the size of which we believe to be approximately $2.3 billion in Western Europe alone.

 

In our fabrics business, we successfully penetrated the automotive fabrics market in the fourth quarter of 2005, receiving our first order for product. We believe this new market for our fabrics products has significant potential for growth and profitability for our U.S. fabrics business.

 

Penetrate Expanding Geographic Markets for Modular Products.  The popularity of modular carpet continues to increase compared with other floorcovering products across most markets, internationally as well as in the United States. While maintaining our leadership in the corporate office segment, we will continue to build upon our position as the worldwide leader for modular carpet in order to promote sales in all market segments globally. A principal part of our international focus — which utilizes our global marketing capabilities and sales infrastructure — is the significant opportunities in several emerging geographic markets for modular carpet. Some of these markets, such as China, India and Eastern Europe, represent large and growing economies that are essentially new markets for modular carpet products. Others, such as Germany, are established markets that are transitioning to the use of modular products from historically low levels of penetration by modular carpet. Each of these emerging markets represents a significant growth opportunity for our modular carpet business. Our initiative to penetrate these markets will include drawing upon our internationally recognized Heuga brand. For example, we successfully introduced a mid-priced Heuga brand into Asia in 2003, and we plan similar products for other regions while also marketing products based on our i2 line.

 

Continue to Minimize Expenses and Invest Strategically.  We have steadily trimmed costs from our operations for several years through multiple and sometimes painful initiatives, which has made us leaner today and for the future. Our historical supply chain and other cost containment initiatives have improved our cost structure and yielded the operating efficiencies we sought. While we still seek to minimize our expenses in order to increase profitability, we will also take advantage of strategic opportunities to invest in systems, processes and personnel that can help us grow our business and increase profitability and value.

 

Sustain Leadership in Product Design and Development.  As discussed above, our leadership position for product design and development is a competitive advantage and key strength, especially in the modular carpet segment, where our i2 products and recent TacTiles installation system have confirmed our position as an innovation leader. We will continue initiatives to sustain and augment that strength, and to capitalize

upon it to continue to increase our market share in targeted market segments. Our Mission Zero global branding initiative, which draws upon and promotes our ecological sustainability commitment, is part of those initiatives and includes placing our Mission Zero logo on many of our marketing and merchandising materials distributed throughout the world.

 

Floorcovering Products/Services

 

Products

 

Interface is the world’s largest manufacturer and marketer of modular carpet, with a global specified carpet tile market share that we believe is approximately 35%. We also manufacture and sell broadloom carpet, which generally consists of tufted carpet sold primarily in twelve-foot rolls, under the Bentley Prince Street brand. Our broadloom operations focus on the high quality, designer-oriented sector of the U.S. broadloom carpet market.

 

Modular Carpet.  Our modular carpet system, which is marketed under the established global brands InterfaceFLOR and Heuga, and more recently under the Bentley Prince Street brand, utilizes carpet tiles cut in precise, dimensionally stable squares (usually 50 square centimeters) or rectangles to produce a floorcovering that combines the appearance and texture of traditional soft floorcovering with the advantages of a modular carpet system. Our GlasBac^® technology employs a fiberglass-reinforced polymeric composite backing that allows tile to be installed and remain flat on the floor without the need for general application of adhesives or use of fasteners. We also make carpet tiles with a backing containing post-industrial and/or post-consumer recycled materials, which we market under the GlasBac^® Re brand.

 

Our carpet tile has become popular for a number of reasons. First, carpet tile incorporating this reinforced backing may be easily removed and replaced, permitting rearrangement of furniture without the inconvenience and expense associated with removing, replacing or repairing other soft surface flooring products, including broadloom carpeting. Because a relatively small portion of a carpet installation often receives the bulk of traffic and wear, the ability to rotate carpet tiles between high traffic and low traffic areas and to selectively replace worn tiles can significantly increase the average life and cost efficiency of the floorcovering. In addition, carpet tile facilitates access to sub-floor air delivery systems and telephone, electrical, computer and other wiring by lessening disruption of operations. It also eliminates the cumulative damage and unsightly appearance commonly associated with frequent cutting of conventional carpet as utility connections and disconnections are made. We believe that, within the overall floorcovering market, the worldwide demand for modular carpet is increasing as more customers recognize these advantages.

 

We use a number of conventional and technologically advanced methods of carpet construction to produce carpet tiles in a wide variety of colors, patterns, textures, pile heights and densities. These varieties are designed to meet both the practical and aesthetic needs of a broad spectrum of commercial interiors — particularly offices, healthcare facilities, airports, educational and other institutions, hospitality spaces, and retail facilities — and residential interiors. Our carpet tile systems permit distinctive styling and patterning that can be used to complement interior designs, to set off areas for particular purposes and to convey graphic information. While we continue to manufacture and sell a substantial portion of our carpet tile in standard styles, an increasing percentage of our modular carpet sales is custom or made-to-order product designed to meet customer specifications.

 

In addition to general uses of our carpet tile, we produce and sell a specially adapted version of our carpet tile for the healthcare facilities market. Our carpet tile possesses characteristics — such as the use of the Intersept antimicrobial, static-controlling nylon yarns, and thermally pigmented, colorfast yarns — which make it suitable for use in these facilities in place of hard surface flooring. Moreover, we launched our FLOR line of products to specifically target modular carpet sales to the residential market segment. Through our relationship with David Oakey Designs, we also have created modular carpet products (some of which are part of our i2 product line) specifically designed for each of the education, hospitality and retail market segments.

We also manufacture and sell two-meter roll goods that are structure-backed and offer many of the advantages of both carpet tile and broadloom carpet. These roll goods are often used in conjunction with carpet tiles to create special design effects. Our current principal customers for these products are in the education, healthcare and government market segments.

 

Broadloom Carpet.  We maintain a significant share of the high-end, designer-oriented broadloom carpet segment by combining innovative product design and short production and delivery times with a marketing strategy aimed at interior designers, architects and other specifiers. Our Bentley Prince Street designs emphasize the dramatic use of color and multi-dimensional texture. In addition, we have launched the Prince Street House and Home collection of high-style broadloom carpet and area rugs targeted at design-oriented residential consumers.

 

Intersept Antimicrobial.  We sell a proprietary antimicrobial chemical compound under the registered trademark Intersept. We use Intersept in all of our modular carpet products and have licensed Intersept to another company for use in air filters.

 

Services

 

For several years, we provided or arranged for commercial carpet installation services, primarily through our Re:Source service provider network. The network in the United States included owned and affiliated (or “aligned”) commercial floorcovering contractors at various locations across the United States. In Australia, we offered these services through the largest single carpet distributor in that country.

 

During the years leading up to 2004, our owned Re:Source dealer businesses experienced decreased sales volume and intense pricing pressure, primarily due to the economic downturn in the commercial interiors industry. As a result, we decided to exit our owned Re:Source dealer businesses, and in 2004 we began to dispose of several of our dealer subsidiaries. In 2005, we completed the exit activities related to the owned dealer businesses. The results of our owned Re:Source dealer businesses (as well as the Australian dealer business and residential fabrics business that we also decided to exit) are included in discontinued operations. In early 2006, we sold certain assets relating to our aligned (non-owned) dealer network, and are discontinuing its operations as well.

 

Marketing and Sales

 

We traditionally focused our carpet marketing strategy on major accounts, seeking to build lasting relationships with national and multinational end-users, and on architects, engineers, interior designers, contracting firms, and other specifiers who often make or significantly influence purchasing decisions. While most of our sales are in the corporate office segment, both new construction and renovation, we emphasize sales in other segments, including retail space, government institutions, schools, healthcare facilities, tenant improvement space, hospitality centers, residences and home office space. We began this initiative as part of our segment diversification strategy in 2001 primarily to reduce our exposure to the more severe economic cyclicality of the corporate office segment, and we reduced our mix of corporate office versus non-corporate office modular carpet sales in the Americas from 64% and 36%, respectively, in fiscal 2001 to 48% and 52%, respectively, for the first 6 months of 2006. Our marketing efforts are enhanced by the established and well-known brand names of our carpet products, including the InterfaceFLOR and Heuga brands in modular carpet and Bentley Prince Street brand in broadloom carpet. Our recently-extended exclusive consulting agreement with the award-winning, premier design firm David Oakey Designs enabled us to introduce more than 75 new carpet designs in the United States in 2005 alone.

 

An important part of our marketing and sales efforts involves the preparation of custom-made samples of requested carpet designs, in conjunction with the development of innovative product designs and styles to meet the customer’s particular needs. Our mass customization initiative simplified our carpet manufacturing operations, which significantly improved our ability to respond quickly and efficiently to requests for samples. In most cases, we can produce samples to customer specifications in less than five days, which significantly enhances our marketing and sales efforts and has increased our volume of higher margin custom or made-to-order sales. In addition, through our websites, we have made it easy to view and request

samples of our products. We also have technology which allows us to provide digital, simulated samples of our products, which helps reduce raw material and energy consumption associated with our samples.

 

We primarily use our internal marketing and sales force to market our carpet products. In order to implement our global marketing efforts, we have product showrooms or design studios in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Denmark, England, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Romania, Russia, Singapore and China. We expect to open offices in other locations around the world as necessary to capitalize on emerging marketing opportunities.

 

Manufacturing

 

We manufacture carpet at two locations in the United States and at facilities in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Thailand.

 

Having foreign manufacturing operations enables us to supply our customers with carpet from the location offering the most advantageous delivery times, duties and tariffs, exchange rates, and freight expense, and enhances our ability to develop a strong local presence in foreign markets. We believe that the ability to offer consistent products and services on a worldwide basis at attractive prices is an important competitive advantage in servicing multinational customers seeking global supply relationships. We will consider additional locations for manufacturing operations in other parts of the world as necessary to meet the demands of customers in international markets.

 

We are in the process of further standardizing our worldwide modular carpet manufacturing procedures. In connection with the implementation of this plan, we are seeking to establish global standards for our tufting equipment, yarn systems and product styling. We previously had changed our standard carpet tile size from 18 square inches to 50 square centimeters, which we believe has allowed us to reduce operational waste and fossil fuel energy consumption and to offer consistent product sizing for our global customers.

 

We recently implemented a new, flexible-inputs backing line at our modular carpet manufacturing facility in LaGrange, Georgia. Using next generation thermoplastic technology, the custom-designed backing line dramatically improves our ability to keep reclaimed and waste carpet in the “technical loop”, and further opens us to exploring other plastics and polymers as inputs. Nicknamed “Cool Blue^tm”, the new process came on line for production of certain carpet styles in late 2005.

 

The environmental management systems of our floorcovering manufacturing facilities in LaGrange, Georgia, West Point, Georgia, City of Industry, California, Shelf, England, Northern Ireland, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada and Thailand are certified under International Standards Organization (ISO) Standard No. 14001.

 

Our significant international operations are subject to various political, economic and other uncertainties, including risks of restrictive taxation policies, foreign exchange restrictions, changing political conditions and governmental regulations. We also receive a substantial portion of our revenues in currencies other than U.S. dollars, which makes us subject to the risks inherent in currency translations. Although our ability to manufacture and ship products from facilities in several foreign countries reduces the risks of foreign currency fluctuations we might otherwise experience, we also engage from time to time in hedging programs intended to further reduce those risks.

 

Competition

 

We compete, on a global basis, in the sale of our floorcovering products with other carpet manufacturers and manufacturers of vinyl and other types of floorcoverings. Although the industry has experienced significant consolidation, a large number of manufacturers remain in the industry. We believe we are the largest manufacturer of modular carpet in the world, possessing a global market share that we believe is approximately twice that of our nearest competitor. However, a number of domestic and foreign competitors manufacture modular carpet as one segment of their business, and some of these competitors have financial resources greater than ours. In addition, some of the competing carpet manufacturers have the ability to

extrude at least some of their requirements for fiber used in carpet products, which decreases their dependence on third party suppliers of fiber.

 

We believe the principal competitive factors in our primary floorcovering markets are brand recognition, quality, design, service, broad product lines, product performance, marketing strategy and pricing. In the corporate office market segment, modular carpet competes with various floorcoverings, of which broadloom carpet is the most common. The quality, service, design, better and longer average product performance, flexibility (design options, selective rotation or replacement, use in combination with roll goods) and convenience of our modular carpet are our principal competitive advantages.

 

We believe we have competitive advantages in several other areas as well. First, our relationship with David Oakey Designs allows us to introduce numerous innovative and attractive floorcovering products to our customers. Additionally, we believe that our global manufacturing capabilities are an important competitive advantage in serving the needs of multinational corporate customers. We believe that the incorporation of the Intersept antimicrobial chemical agent into the backing of our modular carpet enhances our ability to compete successfully with resilient tile in the healthcare market.

 

In addition, we believe that our goal and commitment to be ecologically “sustainable” by 2020 — that is, the point at which we are no longer a net “taker” from the earth and do no harm to the biosphere — is a brand-enhancing, competitive strength as well as a strategic initiative. Increasingly, our customers are concerned about the environmental and broader ecological implications of their operations and the products they use in them. Our leadership, knowledge and expertise in the area, especially in the “green building” movement and the related LEED certification program, resonate deeply with many of our customers and prospects around the globe, and these businesses are increasingly making purchase decisions based on “green” factors. Our modular carpet products historically have had inherent installation and maintenance advantages that translated into greater efficiency and waste reduction. We have further enhanced the “green” quality of our modular carpet in our highly successful i2 product line, and we are using raw materials and production technologies that directly reduce the adverse impact of those operations on the environment and limit our dependence on petrochemicals.

 

To further raise awareness of our goal of becoming sustainable, we recently launched a global branding initiative called Mission Zero, which represents our mission to eliminate any negative impact our companies may have on the environment by the year 2020. As part of this initiative, a new Mission Zero logo appears on many of our marketing and merchandising materials distributed throughout the world.

 

Interior Fabrics

 

Products

 

Our Fabrics Group designs, manufactures and markets specialty fabrics for open plan office furniture systems and commercial interiors. Open plan office furniture systems are typically panel-enclosed work stations customized to particular work environments. The open plan concept offers a number of advantages over conventional office designs, including more efficient floor space utilization, reduced energy consumption and greater flexibility to redesign existing space.

 

Our Fabrics Group includes the leading U.S. manufacturer of panel fabrics for use in open plan office furniture systems, with a market share we believe is approximately 50%. (Sales of panel fabrics constituted 60% of the Fabrics Group’s total North American fabrics sales in fiscal 2005.) We are also the leading manufacturer of contract upholstery sold to office furniture manufacturers in the United States with a market share in fiscal 2005 that we believe is approximately 30%. In addition, we manufacture other interior fabrics products, including wall covering fabrics, fabrics used for window treatments and fabrics used for cubicle curtains.

 

We manufacture fabrics made of 100% polyester (largely recycled content), as well as wool-polyester blends and numerous other natural and man-made blends, which are either woven or knitted. Our products feature a high degree of color consistency, natural dimensional stability and fire retardancy, in addition to their overall aesthetic appeal. All of our product lines are color and texture coordinated. We seek to

continuously enhance product performance and attractiveness through experimentation with different fibers, dyes, chemicals and manufacturing processes. Product innovation in the interior fabrics market (similar to the floorcoverings market) is important to achieving and maintaining market share.

 

We market a line of fabrics manufactured from recycled, recyclable or compostable materials under the Terratex brand. The Terratex line includes both new products and traditional product offerings and includes products made from 100% post-consumer recycled polyester, 100% post-industrial recycled polyester and 100% post-consumer recycled wool. The first fabric to bear the Terratex label was Guilford of Maine’s FR-701^® line of panel fabrics. We market seating fabrics under the Terratex label as well. Over the past few years, we have continued building awareness of the Terratex brand, which enhances the Interface corporate image and reputation. The Terratex products have been well received and are gaining momentum in the market, and we plan to expand our offerings under this label.

 

Our TekSolutions^® operations provide the services of laminating fabrics onto substrates for pre-formed panels, coating fabrics with various treatments, warehousing fabrics for third parties, and cutting fabrics and other materials. We believe that significant market opportunities exist for the provision of this and other ancillary textile sequencing and processing services to OEMs and intend to participate in these opportunities.

 

We anticipate that future growth opportunities will arise from the growing market for retrofitting services, where fabrics are used to re-cover existing panels. In addition, the increased importance being placed on the aesthetic design of office space should lead to a significant increase in upholstery fabric sales. Our management also believes that additional growth opportunities exist in international sales, domestic healthcare markets, automotive, contract wallcoverings and window treatments.

 

In 2003, we placed our Fabrics Group under new senior management, with a mandate to improve the group’s operating efficiencies and financial performance. We have consolidated fabrics manufacturing facilities and eliminated underperforming product offerings, while maintaining the high level of customer awareness for our fabrics brands. In 2004, we decided to exit a small residential fabrics business, the results of which are included in discontinued operations. In April 2006, we continued these efforts by selling our European fabrics business for approximately $28.8 million and closing our East Douglas, Massachusetts fabrics manufacturing facility and integrating those operations into our Elkin, North Carolina manufacturing facility.

 

Marketing and Sales

 

Our principal interior fabrics customers are OEMs of movable office furniture systems, and the Fabrics Group sells to essentially all of the major office furniture manufacturers. The Fabrics Group also sells to smaller office furniture manufacturers and manufacturers and distributors of wallcoverings, vertical blinds, cubicle curtains, acoustical wallboards and ceiling tiles. The Guilford of Maine, Chatham and Terratex brand names are well-known in the industry and enhance our fabric marketing efforts.

 

The majority of our interior fabrics sales are made through the Fabrics Group’s own sales force. The sales team works closely with designers, architects, facility planners and other specifiers who influence the purchasing decisions of buyers in the interior fabrics segment. In addition to facilitating sales, the resulting relationships also provide us with marketing and design ideas that are incorporated into the development of new product offerings. The Fabrics Group maintains a design studio in Grand Rapids, Michigan which facilitates coordination between its in-house designers and the design staffs of major customers. Our interior fabrics sales offices and showrooms are located in New York City and Elkin, North Carolina. The Fabrics Group also has marketing and distribution facilities in Canada and Hong Kong, and sales representatives in Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Dubai and South Africa. We have sought increasingly, over the past several years, to expand our export business and international operations in the fabrics segment.

Manufacturing

 

Our fabrics manufacturing facilities are located in Maine, Michigan, and North Carolina. The production of synthetic and wool-blended fabrics is a relatively complex, multi-step process. Raw fiber and yarn are placed in pressurized vats in which dyes are forced into the fiber. Particular attention is devoted to this dyeing process, which requires a high degree of precision and expertise in order to achieve color consistency. The principal raw materials used by us are readily available from multiple sources. The Fabrics Group also now uses 100% recycled fiber from materials such as PET soda bottles in some of its manufacturing processes.

 

The environmental management system of two of the Fabrics Group’s facilities located in Guilford, Maine (one of which is its largest facility there) and Newport, Maine have been granted ISO 14001 certification.

 

Our TekSolutions textile processing operations (including fabric lamination, coating, warehousing and cutting) are located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in close proximity to several large customers of the Fabrics Group. In addition, we are in the process of establishing a textile processing and finishing operation near Shanghai, China, to service OEM customers throughout Southeast Asia.

 

Competition

 

We compete in the interior fabrics market on the basis of product design, quality, reliability, price and service. By historically concentrating on the open plan office furniture systems segment, the Fabrics Group has been able to specialize our manufacturing capabilities, product offerings and service functions, resulting in a leading market position. Management believes we are the largest U.S. manufacturer of panel fabric for use in open plan office furniture systems.

 

We are the largest U.S. manufacturer of contract upholstery fabrics for office furniture manufacturers. We believe our share of the U.S. contract upholstery market is nearly double that of our closest competitor.

 

Through our other strategic acquisitions, we have been successfully diversifying our product offerings for the commercial interiors industry to include a variety of other fabrics, including three-dimensional knitted upholstery products, cubicle curtains, wallcoverings, ceiling fabrics and window treatments. The competition in these segments of the market is highly fragmented and includes both large, diversified textile companies, several of which have greater financial resources than us, as well as smaller, non-integrated specialty manufacturers. However, our capabilities and strong brand names in these segments should enable us to continue to compete successfully.

 

Specialty Products

 

Our small Specialty Products business segment currently is comprised of Pandel, Inc., which produces vinyl carpet tile backing and specialty mat and foam products. In addition, we produce and market Fatigue Fighter^®, an impact-absorbing modular flooring system typically used where people stand for extended periods. In 2003, we sold our U.S. raised/access flooring business and our adhesives and other specialty chemicals production business, which were part of this business segment. We continue to manufacture and sell our Intercell^® brand raised/access flooring product in Europe.

 

Through an agreement with the purchaser of our adhesive and specialty chemicals production business, we have continued to market a line of adhesives for carpet installation, as well as a line of carpet cleaning and maintenance chemicals, under the Re:Source brand.

 

Product Design, Research and Development

 

We maintain an active research, development and design staff of approximately 120 people and also draw on the research and development efforts of our suppliers, particularly in the areas of fibers, yarns and modular carpet backing materials. Our research and development costs were $9.6 million, $8.0 million and $9.7 million in 2005, 2004 and 2003, respectively.

Our research and development team provides technical support and advanced materials research and development for the entire family of Interface companies. It assisted in the development of our NexStep^® backing, which employs moisture-impervious polycarbite precoating technology with a chlorine-free urethane foam secondary backing, and also helped develop a post-consumer recycled, polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, extruded sheet process that has been incorporated into our GlasBac RE modular carpet backing. Our post-consumer PVC extruded sheet exemplifies our commitment to “closing-the-loop” in recycling. With a goal of supporting sustainable product designs in both floorcoverings and interior fabrics applications, we continue to evaluate 100% renewable polymers based on corn-derived polylactic acid (PLA) for use in our products and the development of post-consumer recycling technology for nylon face fibers.

 

Our research and development team also is the coordinator of our Quest and EcoSense initiatives (discussed below) and supports the dissemination, consultancies and technical communication of our global sustainability endeavors. Its laboratories also provide all biochemical and technical support to Intersept antimicrobial chemical product initiatives.

 

Innovation and increased customization in product design and styling are the principal focus of our product development efforts. Our carpet design and development team is recognized as the industry leader in carpet design and product engineering for the commercial and institutional markets.

 

David Oakey Designs provides carpet design and consulting services to our floorcovering businesses pursuant to a consulting agreement with Interface, Inc. David Oakey Designs’ services under the agreement include creating commercial carpet designs for use by our floorcovering businesses throughout the world, and overseeing product development, design and coloration functions for our modular carpet business in North America. The current agreement runs through April 2011. While the agreement is in effect, David Oakey Designs cannot provide similar services to any other carpet company. Through our relationship with David Oakey Designs, we introduced more than 75 new carpet designs in 2005 alone, and have enjoyed considerable success in winning U.S. carpet industry awards.

 

David Oakey Designs also contributed to our implementation of the product development concept — “simple inputs, pretty outputs” — resulting in the ability to efficiently produce many products from a single yarn system. Our mass customization production approach evolved, in major part, from this concept. In addition to increasing the number and variety of product designs, which enables us to increase high margin custom sales, the mass customization approach increases inventory turns and reduces inventory levels (for both raw materials and standard products) and their related costs because of our more rapid and flexible production capabilities.

 

More recently, our i2 product line — which includes, among others, our patented Entropy modular carpet product and the Proscenium^tm, B&W^tm and Mad About Plaid^tm collections of modular carpet products — represents an innovative breakthrough in the design of modular carpet. The i2 line introduced and features random patterning, mergeable dye lots, cost-efficient installation and maintenance, interactive flexibility and recycled and recyclable materials. Most of these products may be installed without regard to the directional orientation of the carpet tile or the dye lot in which the carpet tile was manufactured, and their features also make installation, maintenance and replacement of modular carpet easier, less expensive and less wasteful.

 

Environmental Initiatives

 

In the latter part of 1994, we commenced a new industrial ecology initiative called EcoSense, inspired in part by the interest of customers concerned about the environmental implications of how they and their suppliers do business. EcoSense, which includes our QUEST waste reduction initiative, is directed towards the elimination of energy and raw materials waste in our businesses, and, on a broader and more long-term scale, the practical reclamation — and ultimate restoration — of shared environmental resources. The initiative involves a commitment by us:

 

 

 

We have engaged some of the world’s leading authorities on global ecology as environmental advisors. The list of advisors includes: Paul Hawken, author of The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability and The Next Economy, and co-author with Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins of Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution; Mr. Lovins, energy consultant and co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute; John Picard, President of E2 Environmental Enterprises; Jonathan Porritt, director of Forum for the Future; Bill Browning, fellow and former director of the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Green Development Services; Dr. Karl-Henrik Robert, founder of The Natural Step; Janine M. Benyus, author of Biomimicry; Walter Stahel, Swiss businessman and seminal thinker on environmentally responsible commerce; and Bob Fox, renowned architect.