HARRISBURG, Pa., April 28, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Addressing stockholders at the Company's 54th Annual Meeting, Harsco Chairman and CEO Salvatore D. Fazzolari today reaffirmed the Company's strategies for weathering the continuing global financial and economic turbulence, saying that, "We fully expect 2009 to be an exceptionally challenging year, but we are managing through this difficult operating and financial environment by positioning the Company to emerge even stronger."
Mr. Fazzolari outlined for stockholders five major elements of the Company's strategy:
1. Adding to the Company's strong and effective countermeasures and
continuing to significantly reduce its cost structure. As
previously announced, the Company now anticipates annual cost
savings in the area of $100 million.
2. Continuing to strengthen the Company's global leadership team to
assemble and field the best team possible.
3. Continuing with the implementation and execution of the Company's
robust emerging market strategy, which targets further penetration
in higher growth markets such as the Gulf Region of the Middle
East, the Asia Pacific region, and others.
4. Continuing to move forward with the aggressive implementation of
the Company's LeanSigma(r) continuous improvement discipline. Mr.
Fazzolari noted that the Company is now entering its second year
of implementation and is already beginning to see the potential
of this transformational initiative.
5. Continuing to maintain the Company's strong balance sheet and
strong free cash flows, both of which have been Harsco hallmarks
for decades.
In other actions, stockholders approved the election of all ten returning members of the Board of Directors, and ratified the Audit Committee's appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as Independent Auditors for the year ending December 31, 2009. Stockholders also reapproved the material terms for performance-based awards under the Company's Executive Incentive Compensation Plan, as amended.
Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) is one of the world's leading diversified industrial services companies, serving key industries that play a fundamental role in worldwide economic growth and recovery. 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.
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