BALA CYNWYD, Pa., July 28, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The following statement was issued today by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP:
Notice is hereby given that a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of all security purchasers, including purchasers of American Depository Receipts ("ADRs") of Business Objects S.A. (NASDAQ:BOBJ) ("Business Objects" or the "Company") from April 23, 2003 through May 5, 2004, inclusive (the "Class Period"). If you are a member of the class described above, you may, not later than August 2, 2004 move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff of the class, if you so choose.
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 Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP (Marc A. Topaz, Esq. or Stuart L. Berman, Esq.) toll free at 1-888-299-7706 or 1-610-667-7706, or via e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com.
The complaint charges that Business Objects, Bernard Liautaud, and James Tolonen 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 April 23, 2003 and May 5, 2004, about the Company's financial condition thereby artificially inflating the price of Business Objects' shares. More specifically, the Complaint alleges that the Company failed to disclose and misrepresented the following material adverse facts which were known to defendants or recklessly disregarded by them: (1) that the Company's integration of Crystal Decisions was actually damaging its financial results, due to struggles with sales team consolidation, product integration and continued customer deferrals, who were delaying spending due to confusion surrounding the synchronization of pricing and new solution bundles; (2) that the Company's market share and demand for the Company's Enterprise 6 products was being eroded by Cognos and Microsoft, as Business Objects was unable to compete with companies who offer more tightly integrated products; and (3) that the Company's financial results were inflated due to improper recognition of deferred revenues, or backlog, from the acquisition of Crystal Decisions.
On April 29, 2004, Business Objects announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2004. The Company's first quarter revenues missed their mark. News of this shocked the market. Shares of Business Objects fell $6.66 or 23.3 percent per share, on April 30, 2004, to close at $21.92.
On May 5, 2004, Business Objects, in its quarterly SEC filing, disclosed that the Company was facing an informal inquiry by the SEC related to their practices with respect to backlog. On the news of the SEC investigation, shares of Business Objects fell an additional $.76 or 3.37 percent per share to close at $21.76.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of class members and is represented by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, which prosecutes class actions in both state and federal courts throughout the country. Schiffrin & Barroway is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered in excess of a billion dollars on behalf of institutional and high net worth individual investors. For more information about Schiffrin & Barroway, or to sign up to participate in this action online, please visit http://www.sbclasslaw.com.
If you are a member of the class described above, you may, not later than August 2, 2004 move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff of the class, if you so choose. 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 Schiffrin & Barroway, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.