In an address to analysts, Albert Stroucken, OI's new CEO, has vowed to get OI's earnings back on track & said the firm is immediately imposing a company-wide hiring freeze, will increase prices even at the expense of sales volume, will review possible plant closings before mid-year, and may even cut capital spending. His conference call, a day after the firm reported its second consecutive annual loss, was described as "fire & brimstone" by one analyst. Wall Street welcomed the speech, with the share up as much as 15% during the day, closing 3%, or US$ 0.74 higher at US$ 23/share on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume, at 5.3M/shares, was about four times normal. "We are the leader in our business, & we have to act like one," Stroucken said. "The company has a tremendous opportunity to perform at a much higher level." The company's profit margins are lower than they were several years ago because of higher energy, materials, health care & transportation costs, he said. "So far we have shielded customers from higher costs, but we can no longer afford to do that," he added. Pricing is the company's top priority. A global team is in charge of setting prices for its products. The company will go for "margin before volume" and will tighten its customer's payment terms.
