BALA CYNWYD, Pa., June 7, 2002 (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 District of Rhode Island on behalf of all purchasers of the common stock of Textron, Inc. (NYSE:TXT) ("Textron" or the "Company") between October 19, 2000 and September 26, 2001, inclusive (the "Class Period").
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 alleges Textron, Lewis B. Campbell, John A. Janitz ("Janitz"), Theodore R. French and Terry D. Stinson ("Stinson") issued false and misleading statements concerning the Company's business and financial condition. The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Textron failed to disclose that the V-22 Osprey, a military aircraft that it was manufacturing, suffered from structural defects that required that it be substantially redesigned. This delay of full-scale production of the Osprey lasted for years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars in excess of the costs allocated to the project for the purpose of calculating profit and loss.
On September 26, 2001, as alleged in the complaint, Textron issued a press release over the Business Wire in which it reduced its guidance for the third and fourth quarter of 2001, and announced that it expected a third-quarter loss of $0.25 per share, compared to the consensus forecast of earnings of $0.71 center per share. The complaint alleges that the Company attempted to blame its poor performance on "the slowdown in the U.S. economy" and "the impact of events on September 11." However, as alleged in the complaint, Textron was also forced to admit that its reduced earnings were resulting from "a number of significant adjustments as Bell Helicopter and other Textron businesses," including a special charge of approximately $0.52 per share resulting from "stretched out production schedules and additional costs to make design changes in the V-22 and H-1 government programs." In the same press release, the Company announced the abrupt departures of defendant Janitz as Textron Chief Operating Officer, and defendant Stinson as Chief Executive Officer of Bell Helicopter. On this news, Textron shares dropped to a year- low price of $33.04 per share down 23% from the previous day's closing price of $43, on relatively heavy trading volume of 4,393,200 shares traded.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of class members and is represented by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP, which prosecutes class actions on behalf of investors and shareholders. For more information on Schiffrin & Barroway, or to sign-up to participate in this action online, please visit http://www.sbclasslaw.com/cgi/signup.cgi.
If you are a member of the class described above, you may, not later than June 25, 2002, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff of the class, if you so choose. In order to serve as lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at http://www.primezone.com/ca