PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 14, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Notice is hereby given that a class action lawsuit was filed on July 31, 2002, in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, on behalf of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired the common stock of PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE:PKI) ( "PerkinElmer" or the "Company"), between July 15, 2001 and April 11, 2002, inclusive (the "Class Period").
The action, numbered 02-CV-11545, is pending in the United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, located at United States Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Way, Boston, MA 02210, against defendants PerkinElmer, Inc., Gregory L. Summe and Robert F. Friel. The Honorable George O'Toole is presiding over the case. A copy of the Complaint is available from the Court or the Law Offices Bernard M. Gross, P.C. Please visit our website at http://www.bernardmgross.com or contact us by phone at 866-561-3600 (toll free) or by E-mail at susang@bernardmgross.com.
The complaint charges PerkinElmer, Gregory L. Summe, Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board and Robert F. Friel, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, with violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5, by issuing a series of materially false and misleading statements to the market during the Class Period. As alleged in the Complaint, PerkinElmer issued numerous statements regarding its performance during the Class Period which represented that the Company was successfully growing its revenues and earnings, that the Company's transformation into a provider of health related products and services was proceeding successfully and that the Company would meet its financial performance targets for 2002. The Complaint alleges that these positive representations were materially false and misleading because the Company failed to disclose that it was experiencing a decline in the demand for its products, especially at its Optoeletronics division, the Company was carrying tens of millions of dollars of obsolete inventory on its books and the Company's expenses were soaring due to the spate of numerous acquisitions and divestitures it had undertaken.
On March 1, 2002, PerkinElmer surprised the market by revealing that its first quarter and entire year 2002 earnings would be materially less than what the Company had represented its earnings would be as recently as three weeks earlier. In reaction to the announcement, the price of PerkinElmer common stock plunged 31%, falling from a $23 per share close on February 28 to a close of $15.75 per share on March 1, on trading of over 16 million shares. The full truth regarding PerkinElmer's business was not fully disclosed until April 11, 2002, when the Company issued a press release revealing that its reported earnings would be breakeven, instead of the figure of $0.16-$0.17 per share that the Company had stated on March 1, it expected to earn, and that its revenues will decline in the first quarter of 2002 because of weakness in all of its divisions. In reaction to the announcement, PerkinElmer's stock plummeted by another 28% falling from $16.70 per share on April 10, 2002 to $12.04 by the close of April 11, on extremely heavy trading volume. The individual defendants and other PerkinElmer insiders sold a total of 595,000 PerkinElmer common stock during the Class Period, reaping gross proceeds in excess of $18.4 million and the Company completed a significant acquisition using its common stock as currency.
Law Offices Bernard M. Gross, P.C. has significant experience and expertise in prosecuting class actions Law Offices Bernard M. Gross P.C. has recently filed cases in the following:
COMPANY SYMBOL PURCHASED DURING LEAD PLAINTIFF
CLASS PERIOD FILING DEADLINE
Capital One COF-NYSE 1/15/00-7/16/02 9/17/02
Financial
Corporation
Citigroup, Inc. C-NYSE 7/24/99-7/23/02 9/23/02
Cross Media XMM-NYSE 11/5/01-7/11/02 9/16/02
Marketing
Corporation
Eclipsys ECLP-NASDAQ 7/23/01-6/27/02 9/27/02
Corporation
Flextronics FLEX-NASDAQ 10/20/01-6/4/02 8/19/02
Int'l Ltd.
Insight NSIT-NASDAQ 4/26/02-7/17/02 9/27/02
Enterprises, Inc.
Merck & Co. MRK-NYSE 7/1/99-6/21/02 8/30/02
Touch America TAA-NYSE 1/30/01-11/14/02 8/26/02
f/k/a Montana
Power Company
PerkinElmer, Inc. PKI-NYSE 7/15/01-4/11/02 9/6/02
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of Class members and is represented by the law firm of Law Offices Bernard M. Gross, P.C. which has significant experience and expertise in prosecuting class actions.
If you bought the common stock of PerkinElmer between July 15, 2001 and April 11, 2002, you may, no later than September 6, 2002, 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. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this Notice or rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact:
Law Offices Bernard M. Gross, P.C. Deborah R. Gross, Esquire Susan Gross, Esquire 1515 Locust Street, Second Floor Philadelphia, PA 19102
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca