NEW YORK, July 21, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Wechsler Harwood LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, on behalf of all persons who purchased the securities of Central Parking Corporation ("Central Parking" or the "Company") (NYSE:CPC) between November 4, 2002 and February 13, 2003, inclusive, (the "Class Period") against Central Parking and certain officers of the Company. The Complaint can be viewed at the Wechsler Harwood website at www.whesq.com.
The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants issued a series of false and misleading statements to the investing public. The defendants failed to disclose several adverse facts, including: that the Company was unable to sufficiently record and document its financial results due to its inadequate internal controls. The Complaint further alleges that Central Parking was materially understating its bad debt reserve and its accounts payable. Consequently, the Company's financial statements were not prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and were thereby materially false and misleading. On February 14, 2003, Central Parking announced that it would be taking a charge to increase its bad debt reserve and that it would be taking a charge to increase its accounts payables. Following this announcement, the price of Central Parking common stock decreased from $15.82 on February 13, 2003 to a close of $12.31 on February 14, 2003, or a one-day decline of over 22%, on over seven times normal trading volume.
If you purchased or otherwise acquired Central Parking securities during the Class Period, you may request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff by August 18, 2003. 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, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
Wechsler Harwood, which has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions involving financial fraud, has prosecuted securities, antitrust and consumer class actions for over 10 years. For more information about Wechsler Harwood LLP, please visit its website at www.whesq.com.
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 Craig Lowther, Wechsler Harwood Shareholder Relations Department: clowther@whesq.com
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca