MILWAUKEE, June 25, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP (http://www.ademilaw.com/cases/Synovis.php) announced that we have filed a class action in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota on behalf of purchasers of Synovis Life Technologies, Inc. ("Synovis") (Nasdaq:SYNO) securities during the period between October 16, 2003 and May 18, 2004 (the "Class Period").
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than August 17, 2004. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact Guri Ademi at 866-264-3995 or via e-mail at gademi@ademilaw.com. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint or join this class action online at http://www.ademilaw.com/cases/Synovis.php. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
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, 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) even 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 claim 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. 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.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.