BALA CYNWYD, Pa., Oct. 30, 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 Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of all purchasers of the common stock of AES Corporation ("AES" or the "Company") (NYSE:AES) between April 26, 2001 and February 14, 2002, 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 charges AES Corporation and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial condition. Specifically, the complaint alleges defendants issued numerous statements which highlighted the Company's strong financial performance, specifically its business operations in the United Kingdom.
As alleged in the complaint, these statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose and/or misrepresented the following adverse facts, among others: (i) that the United Kingdom adopted a new framework for the pricing of energy that undermined the Company's ability to achieve profitability in its United Kingdom activities, and as a result, the Company would experience a rapid decline in its U.K. financial operations; (ii) the adoption of NETA (New Energy Arrangements) in the United Kingdom caused the Company's Fifoots utility operations to operate at a loss, as expected; defendants, however, continuously touted AES's United Kingdom operations as profitable; (iii) that in the first quarter of 2001, Fifoots had an after-tax loss of $11 million; and (iv) that the Company's United Kingdom operations were severely impaired as a result of new pricing arrangements adopted there and that the Company lacked adequate long-term contracts to avoid a rapid decline in its United Kingdom operations as a result of the new pricing arrangements.
On February 14, 2002, AES shocked the market by announcing that it had ceased operations at its Fifoots Point power station in the United Kingdom because of "sliding wholesale electricity prices." The price of the Company's stock dropped precipitously in inordinate trading volume when the Company, for the first time, announced that it was experiencing problems in its Fifoots Point power plant in the United Kingdom and as a result the plant would be closed.
In response to the news, AES plummeted over 25% on February 15, 2002 after the truth concerning AES's Fifoots Point plant and future prospects were finally revealed, dropping from $9.50 per share on February 14, 2002, to $7.00 per share on February 15, 2002 -- on enormous trading volumes of 29,962,400 (far greater than the Company's average trading volume of 3.3 million shares).
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 December 23, 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 www.primezone.com/ca