HARRISBURG, Pa., April 25, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Harsco Corporation (NYSE: HSC) Chairman, President and CEO Derek C. Hathaway reaffirmed the Company's transformation as a worldwide industrial services and products leader at the Company's forty-sixth Annual Meeting of Stockholders held yesterday.
Tracing the Company's fundamental shift from a core manufacturing business to an expanded provider of industrial services, Hathaway told stockholders, "Harsco is now a less complex, more focused, and balanced company, well-positioned for long-term growth. We have become a significant, worldwide player in businesses where we want to be." Harsco's principal businesses include scaffolding and access services and equipment for the non-residential construction and plant maintenance industries; on-site, outsourced services for steel mills; gas containment and control products; and railway track maintenance services and equipment.
With the company's transformation largely complete, Hathaway said the investment community should now be better able to recognize and measure the company's progress. "Nothing can help us better than delivering good and consistent results. That, I can assure you, is what the management of this corporation is committed to doing," Hathaway said.
Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Salvatore D. Fazzolari, reviewed the actions being taken to lower Harsco's cost structure and better position the Company for improved earnings and returns. Fazzolari said Harsco's financial targets this year include $140 million in debt reduction, $20 million in permanent reductions in working capital, and $40 million from the sale of underperforming assets.
Concluding the meeting, Hathaway paid tribute to Robert F. Nation, who retired yesterday from the Company's Board of Directors following 18 years of service.
Harsco Corporation employs more than 20,000 people in 38 countries and recorded 2000 revenues of $2 billion. Additional information about Harsco can be found at www.harsco.com.