ATLANTA, March 3, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Chitwood & Harley announces that it has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on behalf of purchasers of securities of InterCept, Inc. ("INTERCEPT" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:ICPT) between September 16, 2002 and January 9, 2003 (the "Class Period"). The civil action number is 03-CV-0567. A copy of the complaint is available on our website, www.classlaw.com.
The suit is brought against INTERCEPT and certain of its officers and directors. The deadline to file lead plaintiff papers for those class members wishing to serve in this capacity is no later than 60 days from today. There are certain legal requirements to serve as lead plaintiff, which we would be happy to discuss with you. 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. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights with respect to this matter, you may contact Lauren Antonino or Jennifer Morris at 1-888-873-3999 (toll-free) or by e-mail at jlm@classlaw.com. You may also contact us through our website at www.classlaw.com by clicking on INTERCEPT.
Plaintiff alleges that, during the Class Period, defendants made material misrepresentations and/or omitted to make material disclosures due to their false assurances that the adult pornography internet portion of their merchant processing business was insignificant and due to their failure to disclose that VISA regulations implemented on November 1, 2002, which were targeted specifically to address risks of internet pornography card processing, had caused a material loss of business. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that defendants knew by the time their fourth quarter earnings estimate was issued on November 4, 2002 that they would suffer a material loss of business because defendants were aware by November 1, 2002 which of their customers had met the deadline to become sponsored merchants under the new VISA regulations.
In a January 9, 2003 press release, INTERCEPT announced that it was revising its fourth quarter 2002 earnings per share estimate downward to $0.92 to $0.98 from its earlier, November 4, 2002, estimate of $1.11 to $1.15. The Company cited "reduced revenues in our merchant area result(ing) primarily from the iBill operations, which experienced a large loss of merchant customers following the implementation of a new credit card association rule in mid-November." Following these disclosures, shares of INTERCEPT declined from the Class Period high of $19.11 per share to close near $7.00 per share on January 10, 2003 on unusually high volume. By the close of trading on January 10, 2003, the stock had lost more than half of its value just prior to the disclosure.
Chitwood & Harley LLP is a class action firm that concentrates its practice in representing victims of securities fraud and corporate mismanagement, as well as other complex litigation. Chitwood & Harley has been appointed lead counsel in major actions throughout the United States and has been instrumental in recovering billions of dollars on behalf of its clients. Clients and courts alike have praised the results achieved by Chitwood & Harley. Recently, the federal judge in In re BankAmerica Securities Litigation, which resulted in the highest recovery last year in a securities class action, commented favorably on counsel's performance stating: "Class members were well served by experienced attorneys who, through considerable time and effort, obtained a significant recovery for their clients," and, "(a)s the Court has remarked throughout this litigation, class counsel ... have performed at exceptionally high levels, and all parties have been exceedingly well represented."
For more information about Chitwood & Harley, please visit our website at www.classlaw.com or contact Jennifer Morris at 1-888-873-3999 (toll-free), by e-mail at jlm@classlaw.com or at 1230 Peachtree Street, Suite 2300, Atlanta, Georgia 30309.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca