US office furniture maker Knoll saw its 2009 profit tumble by allmost 70 percent as sales declined by 30 percent.

"In the face of a daunting decline in demand this past year we actively scaled our cost structure and continued to generate industry leading levels of operating profitability while making the investments in impactful new designs which we believe positions us well for the decade ahead," said CEO Andrew Cogan.

He did however add that Knoll starts 2010 on a positive note. "Our new product introductions including our award-winning Generation by Knoll chair combined with some stabilization in overall demand helped lead to a double-digit sequential increase in backlog as we wrapped up 2009."

In the fourth quarter, profit was $4 million compared with $22.7 million the year before with sales down 33.4% to stand at $183.9 million.