ATLANTA, April 25, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Chitwood & Harley LLP announces that a class action lawsuit is pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, against Black Box Corporation, (Nasdaq:BBOX). The suit was filed on behalf of purchasers of the publicly traded securities of Black Box, Corp. between October 15, 2002 and March 11, 2003, inclusive ("Class Period").
Chitwood & Harley LLP is currently investigating these claims. 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 Jennifer Morris at 1-888-873-3999 (toll-free) or by e-mail at jlm@classlaw.com. You may also contact us through our website, www.classlaw.com by clicking on Black Box. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff in this action, you must file a motion to do so no later than May 23, 2003. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of his or her choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
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.
On March 11, 2003, 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.
Chitwood & Harley LLP is a class action firm that concentrates its practice in representing victims of securities fraud and corporate mismanagement, as well as other complex litigation. Chitwood & Harley has been appointed lead counsel in major actions throughout the United States and has been instrumental in recovering billions of dollars on behalf of its clients. Clients and courts alike have praised the results achieved by Chitwood & Harley. Recently, the federal judge in In re BankAmerica Securities Litigation, which resulted in the highest recovery last year in a securities class action, commented favorably on counsel's performance stating: "Class members were well served by experienced attorneys who, through considerable time and effort, obtained a significant recovery for their clients," and, "(a)s the Court has remarked throughout this litigation, class counsel ... have performed at exceptionally high levels, and all parties have been exceedingly well represented."
For more information about Chitwood & Harley LLP, please visit our website at www.classlaw.com or contact Jennifer Morris at 1-888-873-3999 (toll-free), by e-mail at jlm@classlaw.com or at 1230 Peachtree Street, Suite 2300, Atlanta, Georgia 30309.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca