Reuters – Harbinger Capital Partners, a $5 billion hedge fund group, said on Tuesday it plans a proxy campaign to elect seven new directors on the board of Ryerson Inc., a metals processing companythat it says is underperforming rivals.
New York-based Harbinger, which owns a 9.7 percent stake in Ryerson, launched its proxy campaign several weeks after disclosing it was considering “a range of actions” to pressure Ryerson to improve its performance.
“The current board has not fulfilled its responsibility to enhance value for shareholders,” Harbinger said in a statement. It said Ryerson has “consistently underperformed its industry peers on a variety of key performance metrics, including gross, operating and net margins and that peer companies have consistently turned inventory more rapidly than Ryerson.”
Ryerson said it had received notice from Harbinger of the fund’s proxy campaign and forwarded it to its board for review.
In early November, Ryerson reported third-quarter profit fell to $21.6 million, or 77 cents a share, from $30.7 million, or $1.18 a share, a year earlier. The 2005 quarter included gains totaling 72 cents a share.
