NEW YORK, Oct. 30, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- The law firm of Wechsler Harwood LLP announces that a class action lawsuit was filed on October 30, 2002, on behalf of purchasers of the securities of AES Corporation ("AES" or the "Company") (NYSE:AES) between April 26, 2001 and February 14, 2002, inclusive. A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be viewed on Wechsler Harwood LLP ("Wechsler Harwood") website at: www.whesq.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 April 26, 2001 and February 14, 2002, thereby artificially inflating the price of AES securities.
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, defendants issued numerous statements which highlighted the Company's strong financial performance, specifically its business operations in the United Kingdom.
As alleged in the complaint, these statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose and/or misrepresented the following adverse facts, among others: (i) that the United Kingdom adopted a new framework for the pricing of energy that undermined the Company's ability to achieve profitability in its United Kingdom activities, and as a result, the Company would experience a rapid decline in its U.K. financial operations; (ii) the adoption of NETA (New Energy Arrangements) in the United Kingdom caused the Company's Fifoots utility operations to operate at a loss, as expected; defendants, however, continuously touted AES's United Kingdom operations as profitable; (iii) that in the first quarter of 2001, Fifoots had an after-tax loss of $11 million; and (iv) that the Company's United Kingdom operations were severely impaired as a result of new pricing arrangements adopted there and that the Company lacked adequate long-term contracts to avoid a rapid decline in its United Kingdom operations as a result of the new pricing arrangements.
On February 14, 2002, AES shocked the market by announcing that it had ceased operations at its Fifoots Point power station in the United Kingdom because of "sliding wholesale electricity prices." The price of the Company's stock dropped precipitously in inordinate trading volume when the Company, for the first time, announced that it was experiencing problems in its Fifoots Point power plant in the United Kingdom and as a result the plant would be closed. In response to the news, AES plummeted over 25% on February 15, 2002 after the truth concerning AES's Fifoots Point plant and future prospects were finally revealed, dropping from $9.50 per share on February 14, 2002, to $7.00 per share on February 15, 2002 -- on enormous trading volumes of 29,962,400 (far greater than the Company's average trading volume of 3.3 million shares).
If you bought the securities of AES between April 26, 2001 and February 14, 2002, you may, no later than December 23, 2002, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as "lead plaintiff." Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You may retain Wechsler Harwood LLP, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
Wechsler Harwood has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded shareholders. The Wechsler Harwood website (www.whesq.com) has more information about the firm. If you wish to discuss this action with us, or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights and interests with regard to the case, please contact the following:
Wechsler Harwood LLP 488 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor New York, New York 10022 Toll Free Telephone: (877) 935-7400 David Leifer, Wechsler Harwood Shareholder Relations Department: dleifer@whesq.com
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca