Furniture Brands International said Wednesday it lost $6.6 million in the second quarter, compared with a profit of $4.2 million in the prior-year quarter.

The St. Louis-based furniture company (NYSE: FBN) reported sales of $296.2 million for the three months ended June 30, up 2 percent from $289.5 million a year ago.

The company had a pretax loss of $6.4 million in the second quarter of 2011, compared with a pretax loss of $1 million in the second quarter of 2010. The year-ago quarter included a net tax benefit of approximately $5.3 million driven by the utilization of tax loss carrybacks.

"We are making investment decisions that we believe are critical to the longer-term health of our company," Chairman and CEO Ralph Scozzafava said in the earnings release. "These include investing to complete our manufacturing facilities in Indonesia and Mexico, both of which will deliver components and finished product at a lower cost than would otherwise be possible."

Furniture Brands International's brands include Thomasville, Broyhill, Lane, Drexel Heritage, Henredon, Pearson, Hickory Chair, LaneVenture and Maitland-Smith.