Harsco Corp.'s (HSC) fourth-quarter net income attributable to common shareholders rose to $39.39 million from $13.74 million a year ago.
Earnings per share attributable to the company's common stockholders improved to $0.49 from $0.17 last year. The prior year's quarter included a restructuring charge of $0.28 per share. Excluding this restructuring charge, fourth quarter 2008 earnings per share from continuing operations was $0.46 a share.
On average, 7 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $0.44 for the quarter. Analysts' estimate typically excludes one-time items.
Sales in the fourth quarter of 2009 declined about 8% to $772.49 million from $835.55 million in the fourth quarter of last year. Six analysts anticipated revenues of $774.72 million for the quarter.
Looking forward to the first quarter of 2010, Harsco anticipates earnings from continuing operations to be in the range of $0.05 - $0.10 per share. This outlook includes around $8.0 million or $0.08 per share in restructuring costs to accelerate cost reduction initiatives in the Harsco Infrastructure Segment. Five analysts expect first-quarter earnings per share of $0.24.
Additionally, the company reaffirmed its earnings per share guidance for 2010 in the range of $2.00 - $2.10 from continuing operations. Also, the company said it expects free cash flow in 2010 to again be in the area of $250 million. Seven analysts estimate earnings per share of $2.07 for the year.
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