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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Ryerson said it had received notice from Harbinger of the fund’s proxy campaign and forwarded it to its board for review.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n