Ekornes

"This is good news for our employees and for the entire group," says
deputy CEO Øyvind Tørlen.

Ekornes is now increasing its output of Stressless® chairs from 960
units per day to 1,140 units per day to meet the current level of
order receipts. Output of Stressless® sofas is being cut from 400 to
350 seat units per day.

"We are seeing a greater demand for individual chairs in the market
than for larger seating units. We are adapting quickly to the new
situation and increasing our output of Stressless® chairs," says Mr
Tørlen.

The Ekornes Group received orders worth NOK 707 million in the first
quarter 2009, compared with NOK 747 million in the same quarter last
year. The figures were particularly strong in the first quarter 2008
as customers placed orders ahead of an announced price rise. The
comparable figure for 2007 was NOK 659 million. (The figures for 2009
are preliminary and given by use of fixed/same currency exchange
rates in order to be comparable.)

Ekornes has a total workforce of around 1,500 people, of whom some
1,300 work at the company's Norwegian production facilities.
Future developments in the international furniture market remain
uncertain. Ekornes is working to emerge from the current financial
crisis a stronger, more competitive company.

"We are optimistic with regard to the future. But today we are just
extremely happy that 14 of our employees can now return to work,"
says Øyvind Tørlen.