Harsco Reports Modest Dip for Quarter

Harsco Corp. reported net income of $28.5 million for the quarter, compared with $25.7 million last year. Income from continuing operations was $23.4 million, compared with income from continuing operations of $24.7 million in the third quarter of 2002.

Third quarter 2003 sales totaled $530 million, up about 4 percent from sales of $511 million in the same period last year.

For the first nine months, income from continuing operations was $61.3 million, compared with income from continuing operations of $64.5 million the same time last year. Including discontinued operations, net income was $66.6 million, compared with net income of $66.0 million in the first nine months of last year. Derek Hathaway, Harsco chairman, president and CEO, said, ``While third quarter results from continuing operations were not quite as good as expected, we made significant progress on a number of key strategic objectives, including favorable developments in our long-standing Federal Excise Tax litigation, the conversion of a majority of our global defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution plans, and the completion of several cost reduction initiatives.

``The integration of our acquisition of the mill services unit of C. J. Langenfelder & Son is essentially complete, additional mill services contracts have been won, and bidding activity for new services business continues to be very active. In fact, service sales grew to almost 71 percent of total sales through the first nine months of 2003.

The company’s mill services division reported third quarter sales increasing by 17 percent to $209 million from $178 million in the third quarter of last year. Operating income for the third quarter increased slightly to $20.7 million from $20.5 million in the same period last year.

Adversely impacting third quarter 2003 results were temporary mill shutdowns caused by the late summer power blackout in the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada, together with production disruptions at several domestic East Coast mills caused by Hurricane Isabel.