BALA CYNWYD, Pa., March 4, 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 Northern District of Georgia on behalf of all purchasers of the common stock of InterCept, Inc. (Nasdaq:ICPT) ("InterCept" or the "Company") from September 16, 2002 through January 9, 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 charges InterCept, Inc. and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial conditions. Specifically, the complaint alleges that, during the Class Period, defendants made material misrepresentations and/or omitted to make material disclosures due to their false assurances that the adult pornography internet portion of their merchant processing business was insignificant and due to their failure to disclose that VISA regulations implemented on November 1, 2002, which were targeted specifically to address risks of internet pornography card processing, had caused a material loss of business. Specifically, the complaint alleges that defendants knew by the time their fourth quarter earnings estimate was issued on November 4, 2002 that they would suffer a material loss of business because defendants were aware by November 1, 2002 which of their customers had met the deadline to become sponsored merchants under the new VISA regulations.
In a January 9, 2003 press release, InterCept announced that it was revising its fourth quarter 2002 earnings per share estimate downward to $0.92 to $0.98 from its earlier, November 4, 2002, estimate of $1.11 to $1.15. The Company cited "reduced revenues in our merchant area result(ing) primarily from the iBill operations, which experienced a large loss of merchant customers following the implementation of a new credit card association rule in mid-November." Following these disclosures, shares of InterCept declined from the Class Period high of $19.11 per share to close near $7.00 per share on January 10, 2003 on unusually high volume. By the close of trading on January 10, 2003, the stock had lost more than half of its value just prior to the disclosure.
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 2, 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