BALA CYNWYD, May 14, 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 Illinois on behalf of all purchasers of the common stock of Sara Lee Corporation (NYSE:SLE) ("Sara Lee" or the "Company") from August 1, 2002 through April 24, 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 August 1, 2002 and April 24, 2003, thereby artificially inflating the price of Sara Lee securities. The Complaint alleges that defendants issued a series of materially false and misleading statements concerning the Company's operations and prospects. In particular, the Complaint alleges that the statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose: (a) that, despite the Company Reshaping program, the Company was still burdened with numerous poorly performing businesses and would have to reevaluate its various businesses. Accordingly, Sara Lee did not have "the right mix of businesses" in that several material businesses were "not growing" or were "in significant decline;" (b) that the Company's underperforming businesses were causing the Company to experience declining results, and as a result, the Company would not be growing at the rates represented to the market; (c) due to a lack of proper internal or financial controls, Sara Lee failed to identify or recognize those businesses or brands among its portfolio of companies that would need to be "run dramatically differently in the future;" and (d) based on the foregoing, Sara Lee lacked any reasonable basis upon which to project that it (i) would experience "double-digit operating income increase" for fiscal 2003 among its "five lines of business" or (ii) have diluted EPS for fiscal year 2003 in the range of $1.54 to $1.60.
On April 24, 2003, Sara Lee shocked the market when it issued a press release announcing its financial results for the third quarter, the period ending March 31, 2003. The Company announced that it was reducing earnings for fiscal 2003 to $1.50 to $1.52 per share, significantly below consensus expectations of $1.59. In response to this announcement, the price of Sara Lee common stock dropped by 10%. During the Class Period, Sara Lee insiders sold more than $23 million of their personally-held Sara Lee common stock to the unsuspecting public.
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/currentcases.cfm.
If you are a member of the class described above, you may, not later than July 14, 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