Fitch Teleconference: U.S. Housing Starts & Sales to Drop Further in 2009; 10/14 11AM ET

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As U.S. housing continues its downward spiral, most statistical data reported so far in 2008 are discouraging, prompting Fitch Ratings to continue lowering its forecasts for this year. With housing starts and new home sales to fall further in 2009 and profitability to remain under severe pressure for builders through next year, there should be continued emphasis on cash flow generation, according to Fitch Ratings, who will be hosting a conference call Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 11 a.m. ET.

Managing Director and lead U.S. Homebuilding analyst Robert Curran will be the call leader and provide insights about the outlook for 2008 and 2009, as well as give a sector recap for the second quarter-2008. Director Robert Rulla will also be on hand for the Q&A session, which will immediately follow the prepared remarks.

Following are the details of the teleconference:

--Date: Tuesday Oct. 14, 2008

--Time: 11:00 a.m. ET

--Conference ID: 68794366

--U.S/Canada: 866-529-2924

--International: 706-902-0671

--Call Leader: Bob Curran

Replay Information:

--Replay Dates: Oct. 14, 2008, 12:00 p.m. ET - Nov. 14, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. ET

--U.S./Canada: 800-642-1687

--International: 706-645-9291

--Replay ID: 68794366

Today's call coincides with the release of Fitch's 'U.S. Homebuilding: The Chalk Line - Quarterly Update: Fall 2008', which is available on the Fitch Ratings web site at www.fitchratings.com.

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