Low revenue, increased expenses and burden of charges drove Armstrong World Industries Inc. to higher losses for the first quarter ended on March 31, 2010, the company said in a statement on Monday.

The company booked a net loss of $19.4 million, or 34 cents a share for the quarter as compared to a net loss of $11.2 million, or 20 cents per share in the year-ago period.

However, the good thing from the company's point of view was the fact that the loss surfaced due to a deferred income tax charge of $21.6 million. Excluding the particular charge, which came due to some changes in the provisions for the health care sector that was included in law in March, the company made a profit of $24 cents a share.

On sales side too the company faced a little problem as revenue dropped nearly one per cent during the quarter to $658.39 million as compared to $668.3 million in the same period for the previous fiscal. Nevertheless, the company's revenue still beat Wall Street expectations of $639.5 million.

The company, however, expects adjusted earnings in the range of $1.35 to $1.60 for the 2010 fiscal.