ST. PAUL, Minn., June 22, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Reinhardt Wendorf & Blanchfield announces that a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota on June 18, 2004 on behalf of purchasers of Synovis Life Technologies, Inc. ("Synovis" or "the Company") (Nasdaq:SYNO) securities during the period between October 16, 2003 and May 18, 2004 (the "Class Period").
The complaint charges Synovis and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Synovis is a diversified medical device company that develops, manufacturers and markets products for the surgical and interventional treatment of disease.
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants issued a series of materially false and misleading statements about the Company's business and prospects which artificially inflated the price of the Company's securities. The true facts, which were known by the defendants, but concealed from the investing public, included: (a) the Company's surgical business was not on track for year-to-year growth but was actually declining; (b) the Company's Peri-Strips were actually losing market share to a competing device made by Gore Medical; (c) defendants' explanations for "why" the Company's Peri-Strips sales fell short were grossly false and misleading, as defendants claimed that sales fell due to capacity constraints, i.e., the number of surgeons qualified to perform procedures had declined, taking sales down as well, which was false for several reasons, including that Peri-Strips are only used in 25% of gastric by-pass procedures and therefore growth would track with market acceptance; and even if the number of gastric by-pass procedures did decline, the medical communities' conversion to the "laproscopic" method (which uses S-12 Peri-Strips) from the "open" method (which used 103 Peri-Strips), would have stemmed this decline in the Company's Peri-Strips sales; (d) the Company's "interventional" side had little to zero growth prospects; and (e) as a result of the above, the Company's projections of fiscal 2004 EPS of $.56-$.60 and revenues of $75-$79 million were false and misleading.
On May 19, 2004, before the market opened, Synovis drastically cut its guidance for fiscal 2004 in a press release which stated, in pertinent part: "At the halfway point of the year, we have fallen behind our own expectations and have clearly not met the expectations of the market. . .While the interventional business showed significant sequential improvement during the second quarter, it is not yet back to fiscal 2003 levels. In the surgical business, several factors affecting gastric bypass market evolved during the second quarter, constraining recent Peri-Strips sales growth and near-term growth prospects for Peri-Strips use in gastric bypass surgery. The magnitude of the revenue shortfall in the interventional business, combined with changes in the gastric bypass market, significantly reduce the likelihood of the strong year-over-year growth we expected in fiscal 2004."
On this news, Synovis stock fell from a close of $14.65 on May 18, 2004 to a close of $9.25 on May 19, 2004, for a single-day decline of more than 36% on very heavy trading volume.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Synovis securities during the Class Period (the "Class"). The plaintiff is represented by Reinhardt Wendorf & Blanchfield, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.
Reinhardt Wendorf & Blanchfield and its predecessor firm have devoted its practice to shareholder class actions and complex commercial litigation for more than thirty years and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for shareholders in class actions throughout the United States.
If you purchased or otherwise acquired any of the Synovis stock described above, between October 16, 2003 and May 18, 2004 and sustained damages, you may, no later than August 17, 2004, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff. If you wish to discuss this case or have questions concerning these cases or your rights or interests, please contact: Garrett D. Blanchfield of Reinhardt Wendorf & Blanchfield at 800-465-1592 or 651-287-2100, via facsimile at 651-287-2103 or via email at g.blanchfield@rwblawfirm.com. For more information about Reinhardt Wendorf & Blanchfield, visit our website at www.rwblawfirm.com .
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.