HPH
My question about this stock...
According to todays news release the company is near
bankruptcy and needs funding. See below news release.
Why are the insiders buying up the stock?
It is not a lot of stock but they have bought quite a few shares
at or around the $6 range.
This stock is very heavily owned by institutions as well as the
insiders.
These are a couple of the questions I would like for this thread
to answer.
dawg
Tuesday June 1 4:53 PM ET
Harnischfeger Posts Loss, Needs Funding
By Brad Dorfman
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Mining and paper-making equipment maker Harnischfeger Industries Inc. (NYSE:HPH - news) Tuesday said it lost $74.3 million in the fiscal 1999 second quarter ended April 30 and said its financial needs exceed current resources.
The company's liquidity problems left some analysts questioning its ability to avoid default and the company's stock lost almost 65 percent of its value Tuesday.
Also Tuesday, credit rating agency Standard and Poors lowered its rating on Harnischfeger's senior unsecured debt to B-minus from BB. That rating means there is an identifiable risk that the company could default within a year, S&P Ratings Services analyst Daniel Di Senso said.
Milwaukee-based Harnischfeger, which last week replaced its chairman and chief executive officer because of the its weak business over the past two years, said liquidity is so low that some vendors are withholding shipments. That caused its Beloit paper-making equipment unit to miss more than $10 million in shipments in the quarter because of a lack of materials, it said.
''Although the company is in compliance with its loan covenants, Harnischfeger's current funding requirements to operate its businesses and implement cost-saving initiatives exceed its currently available resources,'' Chairman Robert Hoffman said in a news release.
The liquidity concerns have caused Harnischfeger to lose some customer orders. That and the vendors withholding of supplies worried analysts.
''Unless they can assure customers and vendors in a very short order, they're going to be forced into bankruptcy,'' said Thomas Burns Jr., analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson.
In a conference call with analysts, Hoffman declined to answer questions centered on how long the company could operate its business without obtaining additional liquidity.
Depressed commodity prices and the weak Asian economy continue to hurt Harnischfeger's business. The company reported a net loss of $1.60 a share for the quarter. Results compare to a net loss from continuing operations of $72.8 million, or $1.57 a share, a year ago. The 1998 results exclude a gain of $151.5 million, or $3.28 a share. Second-quarter net sales were $488.1 million compared to $477.8 million in the equivalent year-earlier period.
''While the company is implementing substantial cost-saving initiatives, the current market conditions have adversely impacted both Harnischfeger's bottom line and increasingly its liquidity,'' John Hanson, chief executive officer, said in a news release. ''Accordingly, we do not foresee significant financial improvement in the performance of the business units by year-end.''
The weak results in recent quarters have taken a sharp toll on Harnischfeger's stock, which two years ago traded near $50 a share.
The stock closed at $2.5625 Tuesday, down $4.75 and at a fresh 52-week low.
Harnischfeger said it continues to explore strategic alternatives and is working with its lenders and others to obtain more funding, though it said no assurance can be made that appropriate financing can be obtained.
The fact that the company has not met financial goals in the past is making it harder to find investors now.
''Frankly, that's not an easy sell today,'' Hoffman said. |
