HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 27, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Worldwide industrial services and engineered products company Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) today reported fourth quarter and full-year 2010 results.
Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2010 Highlights
Fourth quarter 2010 diluted EPS from continuing operations were $0.15 before the Infrastructure Segment restructuring charge; including the restructuring charge, diluted EPS from continuing operations were a loss of ($0.62). This compares with diluted EPS of $0.50 per share in the fourth quarter of 2009; last year's fourth quarter results benefited by approximately $0.14 per diluted share from a significantly lower effective tax rate when compared with the fourth quarter of this year, due to higher discrete tax benefits in 2009. Fourth quarter 2010 income (loss) from continuing operations was $13.4 million before the restructuring charge; after the restructuring charge was a loss of ($49.2) million. On a comparative basis, fourth quarter 2009 income from continuing operations was $41.8 million. Sales in the fourth quarter 2010 declined approximately 2 percent to $757 million principally due to foreign currency translation, compared with $772 million in the fourth quarter of last year. Foreign currency translation reduced sales by approximately $19 million but did not have a material effect on pre-tax income compared with the fourth quarter of 2009.
As previously announced, the Company incurred an $84.4 million pre-tax restructuring charge in the fourth quarter of 2010, or $0.77 per diluted share, to address the realignment of the Company's Infrastructure business and position it for a return to profitability and future growth. The Company's actions are expected to generate pre-tax savings of approximately $43 million in 2011, or approximately $0.39 per diluted share, and over $60 million when fully annualized in 2012, or approximately $0.54 per diluted share.
For the full-year 2010, diluted EPS from continuing operations were $0.91 before the Infrastructure Segment restructuring charge; including the restructuring charge diluted EPS were $0.13. This compares with diluted EPS of $1.66 per share for the full-year 2009. Last year's results benefited by approximately $0.28 per share from a significantly lower effective tax rate when compared with 2010 results, due to higher discrete tax benefits in 2009. Full-year 2010 income from continuing operations was $79.2 million before the restructuring charge; including the restructuring charge was $16.6 million. On a comparative basis, full-year 2009 income from continuing operations was $140.8 million. Sales for the full-year 2010 were $3.04 billion, compared with sales of $2.99 billion in 2009. For the full-year 2010, foreign currency translation reduced sales by approximately $9 million, but increased pre-tax income by approximately $4 million or $0.04 per diluted share when compared with the results for the full-year 2009.
Comment
Commenting on the Company's results, Harsco Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Salvatore D. Fazzolari said, "I am pleased to report that we closed the year on a positive note. We exceeded our earnings forecast for the fourth quarter, we exceeded our very challenging free cash flow target for the year, and we successfully executed the restructuring of the Harsco Infrastructure Segment according to plan. This restructuring will be substantially completed by the end of the first quarter 2011. We ended the year with a strong balance sheet and excellent financial flexibility.
"Our overall results for the fourth quarter were better than expected, notwithstanding the restructuring charge for Harsco Infrastructure. All of our operating units performed near or better than expectations, with our Harsco Rail business again exceeding expected results, partly due to a shipment accelerated to the fourth quarter 2010 from the first quarter of 2011 at the request of the customer. Within our newly constituted Harsco Metals & Minerals reporting segment, the fourth quarter contained a number of one-off charges that somewhat reduced this Segment's otherwise encouraging performance. With the primary restructuring actions of our Harsco Infrastructure business near completion, this clearly sets the stage for improved results for this business starting in the second quarter of 2011 and, with some end-market improvement, a return to full-year profitability in 2012 and beyond.
"Most pleasing in the quarter were the strong free cash flows that we generated. These results allowed the Company to produce $209 million of free cash flow in 2010, above our stated goal for the year of $200 million. In the past three years (2008-2010), we have generated approximately $600 million in free cash flow during arguably the most difficult economic period in the modern history of the Company. This performance gives us further confidence in our stated five-year goal of achieving $1 billion in free cash flow in the period 2011-2015.
"As I stated at our December investor conference and as posted to our Harsco website, much has been achieved over the past three years to transform the Company. I believe that 2011 will be a year of transition that will lay the foundation for an era of continuing and consistent growth for the Company over the next five years.
"As such, we are reaffirming the earnings guidance for 2011 that we gave in December in the range of $1.25 to $1.35 per diluted share from continuing operations. As we also stated in December, however, results for the first quarter of 2011 will be lower than those of the prior year first quarter due to the timing of shipments in our Harsco Rail business, including the acceleration of a shipment from the first quarter of 2011 into the fourth quarter of 2010 at the customer's request, and the combination of the carryover of restructuring efforts and lower year-over-year volumes in the Middle East for our Harsco Infrastructure business. Therefore, our present outlook is for first quarter 2011 earnings from continuing operations to be in the range of $0.00 to $0.05 per diluted share, compared with $0.10 per share in the first quarter of 2010."
Fourth Quarter Business Review
Harsco Infrastructure
Sales in the fourth quarter decreased 8 percent to $265 million from $287 million last year. Foreign currency translation reduced sales by approximately $13 million in the quarter but did not have a material effect on operating income when compared with the fourth quarter of 2009. An operating loss, before restructuring charges, of ($14.4) million was incurred in the quarter, compared with operating income in last year's fourth quarter of $2.2 million. As previously noted, during the quarter the Company took an $84.4 million restructuring charge in its Harsco Infrastructure segment to permanently reduce the cost base of this business and set the stage for future earnings growth.
Despite continuing adverse end-market conditions in the final quarter of 2010, and the expected difficult first quarter of 2011, the Company has a positive longer-term outlook for Harsco Infrastructure. As noted in December, substantial restructuring actions being taken are expected to result in approximately $43 million in cost savings in 2011 for this business and over $60 million once fully annualized in 2012. The restructuring actions are on target to be substantially complete by the end of the first quarter of 2011.
Further, there are some early indications that the severe decline in non-residential construction in the end-markets served by Harsco Infrastructure may be reaching a bottom in the first quarter of 2011 and that a gradual turn-around in end-market conditions may be in evidence in the latter part of 2011 or by early 2012.
Harsco Metals & Minerals
Effective with the fourth quarter of 2010, the Company is now reporting Harsco Metals and Harsco Minerals as one segment, reflecting the increasing operating synergies of these businesses within the Company's global markets.
Sales in the fourth quarter increased 4 percent to $372 million from $356 million in last year's comparable quarter. Operating income in the quarter was $23.9 million, compared with $25.7 million in last year's quarter. Operating margins in the quarter were 6.4 percent, compared with 7.2 percent in last year's quarter. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2009, foreign currency translation reduced sales in the quarter by approximately $6 million and did not have a material effect on operating income.
When compared with last year's fourth quarter, the current quarter included net special items such as severance, exit costs and other items totaling approximately $5 million, which lowered operating margins by approximately 130 basis points.
Looking ahead, the outlook for this Segment remains positive. Global steel production appears to have stabilized, with the potential for further growth from increased global economic activity as well as future improvement in the global non-residential construction market. In addition, the Company continues to see significant new bidding activities for its wide range of value-adding services to mills around the world, and also anticipates the start-up in 2011 of several key contract awards previously announced by the Company.
Harsco Rail
As expected, sales in the quarter decreased to $61 million, down approximately 18 percent from sales of $75 million in the comparable quarter of last year. Consequently, operating income of $9.7 million was lower than the $12.5 million in last year's comparable quarter, as expected. Nevertheless, operating margins of 15.9 percent were still only 90 basis points lower than the 16.8 percent operating margins reported in the fourth quarter of 2009. Foreign currency did not have a meaningful impact on results in the quarter when compared with the comparable prior year quarter.
To reiterate previous communications, the quarterly results of Harsco Rail are affected by the timing of unit deliveries as they are completed. In the first half of 2010, there was a significant acceleration of deliveries at the request of a major customer, which therefore reduced delivery volumes in the second half of the year. For the full year, however, Harsco Rail achieved record sales, operating income and operating margins.
Another year of strong results is expected in 2011. This outlook is underpinned by existing backlogs and strong new order bidding activity, as the Company discussed at its December investor conference, the content of which has been posted to the Company's website at www.harsco.com.
Harsco Industrial
With the reporting of Harsco Minerals and Harsco Metals as one segment, Harsco Industrial is now being reported as a stand-alone business segment beginning with the fourth quarter of 2010.
Sales in the quarter increased by approximately 10 percent to $60 million from last year's $55 million. However, operating income of $10.4 million was 25 percent lower than last year's $14.0 million in the comparable quarter. Likewise, fourth quarter 2010 operating margins of 17.4 percent were lower than the 25.7 percent achieved in the comparable quarter of 2009. The principal reasons for the lower operating income and margins in the fourth quarter of 2010 in comparison with the same quarter last year were higher LIFO cost in 2010 and the recovery of bad debt expense in 2009. Foreign currency translation did not have a material impact on results in the quarter when compared with the fourth quarter of last year.
The outlook remains positive for Harsco Industrial. As discussed at the Company's December investor conference, the new executive management for this Segment sees significant growth opportunities to expand this business beyond its traditional North American focus and achieve a broader global market for its highly engineered products. Included in this strategy is the establishment of certain joint venture partnerships in key geographies, several of which are currently under development.
Liquidity, Capital Resources and Other Matters
Net cash provided by operating activities for the full year 2010 was $401 million, compared with $434 million for the prior year. Net cash used by investing activities was $202 million, compared with $269 million in 2009. A modest increase in capital expenditures year-over-year of $27 million is principally due to capital required for new contract signings in the Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment. Free cash flow (cash from operations less capital expenditures) was $209 million in 2010, compared with the record $269 million in the prior year. The year-over-year decline is the result of substantially lower income for the Harsco Infrastructure business. The Company's target is to average $200 million in free cash flow per year over the next five years.
As a result of its strong free cash flows in 2010, the Company reduced total debt as of December 31, 2010 to $885 million, compared with total debt of $985 million at December 31, 2009, a reduction of $100 million. The total debt-to-capital ratio at December 31, 2010 was 37.6 percent, down from 39.5 percent as of the prior year-end and the lowest year-end debt-to-capital ratio since 1998.
Due to the difficult and challenging operating environment for Harsco Infrastructure throughout the year, Economic Value Added (EVA®) declined in 2010.
Discontinued Operations
For the full year 2010, discontinued operations were a loss after tax of $4.1 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, compared with a loss after tax of $15.1 million or $0.19 per diluted share in 2009.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations, estimates and projections. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the company's strategy for growth, product development, market position, expected expenditures and financial results are forward-looking statements. Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "may," "could," "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "intends," "projects," "indicates," and similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors, including those discussed more fully elsewhere in this release and in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Harsco, particularly its latest annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q, as well as others, could cause results to differ materially from those stated. These factors include, but are not limited to, changes in the worldwide business environment in which the Company operates, including general economic conditions; changes in currency exchange rates, interest rates, commodity and fuel costs and capital costs; changes in the performance of the equity and debt markets that could affect, among other things, the valuation of the assets in the Company's pension plans and the accounting for pension assets, liabilities and expenses; changes in governmental laws and regulations, including environmental, tax and import tariff standards; market and competitive changes, including pricing pressures, market demand and acceptance for new products, services, and technologies; unforeseen business disruptions in one or more of the many countries in which the Company operates due to political instability, civil disobedience, armed hostilities, public health issues or other calamities; the seasonal nature of the Company's business; our ability to successfully enter into new contracts and complete new acquisitions or joint ventures in the timeframe contemplated or at all; the recent global financial and credit crisis, which could result in our customers curtailing development projects, construction, production and capital expenditures, which, in turn, could reduce the demand for our products and services and, accordingly, our sales, margins and profitability; the financial condition of the Company's customers, including the ability of customers (especially those that may be highly leveraged and those with inadequate liquidity) to maintain their credit availability; the successful integration of the Company's strategic acquisitions; the amount and timing of repurchases of the Company's common stock, if any; our ability to successfully implement cost-reduction initiatives; and other risk factors listed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports. The Company undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements.
Conference Call
As previously announced, the Company will hold a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss its results and respond to questions from the investment community. The conference call will be broadcast live through the Harsco Corporation website at . The call can also be accessed by telephone by dialing (800) 611-4920, or (973) 200-3957 for international callers. Enter Conference ID number 35483966. Listeners are advised to dial in at least five minutes prior to the call. Replays will be available via the Harsco website, or by telephone beginning at approximately 11:00 am ET today through Monday, January 31, 2011. The telephone replay dial-in number is (800) 642-1687, or (706) 645‑9291 for international callers. Enter Conference ID number 35483966.
About Harsco
Harsco Corporation is a diversified, global industrial services and engineered products company serving major industries that are fundamental to worldwide economic growth. Harsco's common stock is a component of the S&P MidCap 400 Index and the Russell 1000 Index. Additional information can be found at www.harsco.com.
The Harsco Corporation logo is available at
Free Cash Flow is a non-GAAP financial measure. The Company's Management believes that this measure is meaningful to investors because management reviews cash flows generated from operations after taking into consideration capital expenditures due to the fact that these expenditures are considered necessary to maintain and expand the Company's asset base and are expected to generate future cash flows from operations. It is important to note that Free Cash Flow does not represent the residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures since other non-discretionary expenditures, such as mandatory debt service requirements, are not deducted from the measure.
CONTACT: Investor Contact Eugene M. Truett 717.975.5677 etruett@harsco.com Media Contact Kenneth D. Julian 717.730.3683 kjulian@harsco.com
