BALA CYNWYD, Pa., March 25, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The following statement was issued today by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP:
Notice is hereby given that a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on behalf of all purchasers of the common stock of Black Box Corporation ("Black Box" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:BBOX) from October 15, 2002 through March 11, 2003, inclusive (the "Class Period").
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP (Marc A. Topaz, Esq. or Stuart L. Berman, Esq.) toll free at 1-888-299-7706 or 1-610-667-7706, or via e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com
The Complaint alleges that defendants violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by issuing a series of material misrepresentations to the market between October 15, 2002 and March 11, 2003, thereby artificially inflating the price of Black Box securities. Throughout the Class Period, as alleged in the Complaint, defendants failed to disclose and misrepresented the following material adverse facts: (a) that the Company's European operations were not performing well and would have to be scaled down significantly and staffing levels reduced accordingly; (b) that the Company was improperly delaying the write down of a material amount of uncollectible receivables, thereby overstating its financial results; and (c) that the Company was experiencing declining demand for its products and services and was not performing according to its internal plans.
The Class Period ends on March 11, 2003. On that date, Black Box shocked the market when it announced that it expects earnings for the fourth quarter, the period ending March 31, 2003, to be between 53 cents and 54 cents, prior to one-time charges -- as compared to analysts earnings estimates of 74 cents per share. The Company further reported that it would be recording a $9 to $10 million one-time pre-tax charge, or 29 cents to 32 cents per share. In response to this announcement, the price of Black Box common stock dropped from $39.14 per share to $26.78 per share, a decline of 31%, on extremely heavy volume. During the Class Period, Black Box insiders sold their personally-held shares of Black Box common stock generating proceeds of more than $5 million.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of class members and is represented by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, which prosecutes class actions in both state and federal courts throughout the country. Schiffrin & Barroway is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered in excess of a billion dollars on behalf of institutional and high net worth individual investors. For more information about Schiffrin & Barroway, or to sign up to participate in this action online, please visit http://www.sbclasslaw.com/cgi/signup.cgi
If you are a member of the class described above, you may, not later than May 23, 2003, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff of the class, if you so choose. In order to serve as lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca