Harvard Sees Continued Growth This Year; Shareholders Reelect Board
15 March 2000
Harvard Sees Continued Growth This Year; Shareholders Reelect Board
LEBANON, N.J.--March 15, 2000--"We see strong growth in EBITDA this year as our strategies -- leveraging our technology to offer high value-added products to industrial as well as our traditional automotive customers - take hold," Roger Pollazzi, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Harvard Industries, , Inc. told shareholders at today's annual meeting, the Company's first since emerging from bankruptcy in November, 1998.At the meeting, shareholders reelected Harvard's nine-member board to one-year terms.
Harvard entered Chapter 11 in May 1997, a year when the Company recorded a loss of $389 million on sales of $810 million and debt totaled $624 million. A new team, headed by Pollazzi, took over in November 1997.
Since then, the Company's recovery program has boosted margins and productivity, diversified its revenues and yielded $163 million in gross proceeds from divestitures as the Company streamlined operations. In 1999, on a proforma basis, Harvard achieved EBITDA of $16.7 million on sales of $330 million and operates debt-free today, with cash and available credit of approximately $50 million, the Company's chairman said.
The Company believes that EBITDA is a better indication of the Company's financial performance than net earnings because the Company's sizable amortization of the "reorganization asset" (the excess of the Company's reorganization value over its identifiable assets at the time of the reorganization) totals over $42 million annually.
Pollazzi termed the recovery of Harvard complete. "Our focus now is on further boosting our profitability by broadening our product offerings, both internally and through acquisitions, to more fully utilize our manufacturing technology and capacity. The Company is well-positioned, we believe, to produce attractive returns for our shareholders," he concluded.
Harvard Industries, Inc. designs, develops, and manufactures a broad range of components for OEM manufacturers and the automotive aftermarket, as well as aerospace and industrial and construction equipment applications worldwide. The Company has approximately 2,500 employees at 10 plants in the United States and Canada.
Statements herein regarding the Company's future performance, including the Company's ability to consummate transactions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. With respect to the Company's long-term business strategies, management has made certain assumptions regarding the Company's performance which may change or be affected by, among other things, customer demand for the Company's products, and adverse changes in general, market and industry conditions. In addition, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully identify, negotiate or complete any acquisitions or divestiture transaction, which the Company may be currently contemplating. Management believes that forward-looking statements are reasonable, however undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations.