CLEVELAND, Ohio, March 4, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Landskroner - Grieco Ltd. announces that it has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of purchasers of the securities of Koninklijke Ahold N.V. d/b/a Royal Ahold, Inc. ("AHOLD" or the "Company") (NYSE:AHO) between May 15, 2001 and February 21, 2003 (the "Class Period"). The suit is against AHOLD, certain of its officers and directors, and two of its related companies, Ahold USA Holdings, Inc. and U.S. Foodservice, Inc. The deadline to file lead plaintiff papers, for those class members wishing to serve in this capacity, is April 28, 2003. There are certain legal requirements to serve as lead plaintiff, which we would be happy to discuss with you. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights with respect to this matter, you may contact Jack Landskroner or Debra Spaller at Landskroner - Grieco, Ltd. by calling toll free at 866-522-9500 or by emailing Jack@landskronerlaw.com. The website is www.landskronerlaw.com
The complaint charges defendants with violations of the federal securities laws. During the Class Period, defendants issued many statements and filed quarterly and annual reports with the SEC which depicted the Company's net income and financial performance. The complaint alleges that these statements were materially false and misleading because they omitted and/or misrepresented several undesirable facts, such as that, during the Class Period, AHOLD had significantly overstated its operating earnings for its U.S. Foodservice division. The complaint further alleges that the Company lacked sufficient internal controls resulting in an inability to determine the true financial condition of AHOLD, which lead to the value of the Company's net income and financial results being materially overstated at all pertinent times.
On February 24, 2003, before the market opened for trading, AHOLD announced that it discovered over $500 million in "overstatements of income related to promotional allowance programs", requiring the Company to restate its previously issued financial reports for fiscal years 2001 and 2002. Following this report, shares of AHOLD declined over 60%, to close at $4.16 per share, on volume of more than 16 million shares traded, or nearly thirty times the average daily volume.
Landskroner - Grieco, is a law firm whose practice areas include securities fraud and consumer class action litigation. Jack Landskroner is a board certified trial advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and has been counsel of record in class action cases litigated across the county. For more information or questions about our pending action against Royal Ahold or about Landskroner - Grieco, please contact Jack Landskroner at 866-522-9500 (toll-free), by e-mail at jack@landskronerlaw.com or at 1360 West 9th St. Suite 200 Cleveland, Ohio 44113 or visit its website at www.landskronerlaw.com.