ATLANTA, April 11, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Chitwood & Harley LLP announces that a class action lawsuit is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, against Imperial Chemical Industries PLC, ("ICI" or the "Company"), (NYSE:ICI), and certain of its officers and directors. The suit was filed on behalf of purchasers of the publicly traded securities of Imperial Chemical Industries between August 1, 2002 and March 24, 2003, inclusive ("Class Period").
The complaint charges Imperial Chemical Industries PLC and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial condition. Specifically, the complaint alleges that defendants issued numerous press releases in which they stated that they had resolved the Company's distribution and software problems that the Company had experienced at its Quest division's Fragrance & Food businesses. Defendants further stated that the Company was on track to report strong financial results, that the Company had cleared its backlog of customer orders and that the Company had not lost any customers as a result of its production problems.
The Complaint alleges that these statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose and/or misrepresented the following adverse facts, among others: (a) that ICI's software, distribution and production problems at its Quest division were not ``temporary'' problems or ``unique'' to the Naarden, The Netherlands location, but impacted company-wide operations and profitability; (b) that ICI's software, distribution and production problems at its Quest division had not been ``essentially'' or ``largely'' ``resolved'' or ``rectified''; and ( c) that contrary to ICI's representations that it had cleared its backlog of orders and not lost any customers as a result of the software, distribution and production problems at Quest, ICI's customers were, in fact, obtaining new sources of supply and discontinuing their relationships with ICI.
On March 25, 2003, before the open of trading, ICI shocked investors when it issued a profit warning with respect to its fiscal 2003 first quarter. Defendants announced that its first quarter profit would drop approximately 24%, as a result of, among other things, ``business lost following the customer service problems in 2002.'' Following this announcement, shares of ICI fell from a close of $9.60 per share on March 24, 2003 to $6.05 per share on March 25, 2003, or a single-day decline of more than 36%, on nearly ten times normal trading volume.
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 Imperial Chemical Industries. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff in this action, you must file a motion to do so no later than June 9, 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. A complaint is available from the court or can be emailed to you upon request.
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.