MILWAUKEE, May 28, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The law firm of Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP announced that it filed a class action lawsuit on May 13, 2003 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division on behalf of all purchasers of Lee Corporation (NYSE:SLE) ("Sara Lee" or the "Company") publicly traded securities during the period between August 1, 2002 to April 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 our website at http://www.ademilaw.com/cases/SaraLee.pdf.
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 Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP (Guri Ademi, Esq.) toll free at 1-866 264-3995, or via e-mail at gademi@ademilaw.com. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than July 14, 2003. If you are a member of this class, you can join this class action online at http://www.ademilaw.com/cases/SaraLee.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.
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 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 2003 in the range of $1.54 to $1.60.
On April 24, 2003, Sara Lee shocked the public 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.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca