millerknoll inc on wednesday posted lower sales in its fiscal third quarter as price increases werent enough to offset a drop in orders in the period the zeeland michbased furniture maker said net income for the three months ended march 3 fell to 400000 or 1 cent a share compared with 144 million or 19 cents a share for the same period a year earlier stripping out onetime items earnings per share came in at 54 cents a share beating analysts expectations of 42 cents a share three months ago the company said it forecast adjusted earnings per share in the range of 40 cents to 46 cents sales fell 44 to 9847 million amid a 20 drop in orders analysts polled by factset had forecast sales of 9975 million for the period while millerknoll had predicted sales between 980 million and 102 billion the decline in orders yearoveryear reflect the impact of a slowdown in the north american housing market and a general increase in economic uncertainty the company said millerknolls adjusted operating margings were also hit by lower volumes increased freight expenses and elevated inventory costs it said