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The Decatur company best known for printing checks is building a stronger financial ledger.
John H. Harland Co. (NYSE: JH) seems to be adding up the benefits of years of change at the company, whose core businesses are check printing and manufacturing document-reading equipment.
New senior management, structural reorganization, and operational consolidations appear to have a produced a leaner and more fit Harland.
First-quarter earnings were up 65 percent from 1998 to 1999 and the company's stock is trading at its highest level in 19 months. The company will report its second-quarter earnings on July 23.
Harland officials hope that 1999 will provide improved earnings and stability so they can plot a more ambitious course for 2000.
'"This year is about executing the plans that are in place and doing a good job of that," Harland spokesperson Victoria "Vickie" Weyand said. 'The year 2000 will be more about strategic growth." Harland has undergone several personnel and strategic changes in recent years.
Harland began consolidating plants and centralizing customer service operations in 1996 in order to improve profitability. In January 1998, Chairman and CEO Robert Amman, who initiated those moves, resigned after two years at the helm.
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