DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Building-products maker Masco Corp. (MAS) on Friday slashed its dividend 68% to conserve some $240 million a year in cash and said it sees "extremely challenging" market conditions lasting for "the next several quarters."

Shares fell 5.8% in premarket trading to $7.30. The stock through Thursday was down more than 60% since September.

The company, which has seen demand for its home-improvement products fall prey to the housing downturn.

The dividend cut to 7.5 cents a share will help Masco "ensure its ability to fund its business operations" and "relatively modest" debt coming due early next year while being able to take advantage of "growth opportunities that may arise," it said.

Companies across the spectrum have been cutting dividends in an effort to save money amid the recession and an overall pullback in customer spending. Masco's comes with new-home construction and repair and remodeling spending expected to remain weak in 2009.

The maker of faucets, cabinets and other building products projected last month - when it reported a wider fourth-quarter net loss - that housing starts would fall another 35% this year on top of 2008's 30% decline.

Fitch Ratings pushed Masco's credit ratings to junk territory, the latest in a series of downgrades for the company in the last several months. Fitch cited the building-products maker's deteriorating financial results and credit metrics, driven by the housing woes.

-By Mike Barris, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5658; mike.barris@dowjones.com