MILWAUKEE, APRIL 28, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Law Firm of Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP announced that it filed a class action on April 9, 2003 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, located at 500 Pearl Street, NY, NY 10007, on behalf of purchasers of Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (NYSE:ICI) ("ICI" or the "Company") American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), each representing 1 pound Sterling Ordinary Share, during the period between August 1, 2002 to March 24, 2003, inclusive (the "Class Period"). A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be viewed on the firm's website at http://www.ademilaw.com/cases/ICI.pdf.
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 March 24, 2003, thereby artificially inflating the price of ICI securities. Throughout the Class Period, as alleged in the Complaint, 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 a close of $5.60 per share on March 25, 2003, or a single-day decline of more than 36%, on nearly twenty times normal trading volume.
If you bought ICI ADSs between August 1, 2002 to March 24, 2003, inclusive, and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than June 9, 2003. If you are a member of this class, you can join this class action online at http://www.ademilaw.com/cases/ICI.php.
Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through Ademi & O'Reilly or other counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. If you have any questions about how you may be able to recover for your losses, or if you would like to consider serving as one of the lead plaintiffs in this lawsuit, you are encouraged to call or e-mail the Firm or visit the Firm's website at www.ademilaw.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.