HARTFORD, Conn., Nov. 19, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Schatz Nobel Izard P.C., which has significant experience representing investors in prosecuting claims of securities fraud, announces that a lawsuit seeking class action status has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of all persons who purchased the publicly traded securities, including common/ordinary stock and American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") of Vodafone Group Public Limited Company ("Vodafone" or the "Company") (NYSE:VOD) between June 10, 2004 and February 24, 2006, inclusive (the "Class Period").
The Complaint charges that Vodafone and certain of its officers and directors violated federal securities laws. Specifically, defendants' statements regarding Vodafone's business and prospects issued during the Class Period were false and misleading in failing to disclose the following: (i) throughout the Class Period, Vodafone's financial statements and reports were materially falsified and overstated, including the overstatement of its assets and operating earnings due to the over-valuation of its German, Italian and Japanese operations; (ii) Vodafone's German operations had not been successfully integrated into Vodafone's overall operations and were suffering from significant operational problems, inefficiencies and a lack of growth and profitability adequate to permit Vodafone to recover its investment in its German operations; (iii) Vodafone's Japanese operations were materially overvalued on Vodafone's financial statements due to the failure to hold or gain sufficient market share so as to permit Vodafone to recover its investment in its Japanese operations; (iv) Vodafone's "One Vodafone" cost savings and operational efficiency initiative was not succeeding or achieving significant cost savings; and (v) due to the foregoing adverse factors which were negatively impacting Vodafone's operations and financial performance, defendants knew that the levels of financial performance being forecast for Vodafone for fiscal 2006 and 2007 would not be achieved.
If you are a member of the class, you may, no later than January 14, 2008, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff of the class. A lead plaintiff is a class member that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Although your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision whether or not to seek appointment as a lead plaintiff, lead plaintiffs make important decisions which could affect the overall recovery for class members, including decisions concerning settlement. The securities laws require the Court to consider the class member(s) with the largest financial interest as presumptively the most adequate lead plaintiff(s).
While Schatz Nobel Izard P.C. has not filed a lawsuit against the defendants, to view a copy of the Complaint initiating the class action or for more information about the case, class action cases in general, and your rights, please contact Schatz Nobel Izard P.C. toll-free at (800) 797-5499, or by e-mail at firm@snilaw.com, or visit our website: www.snilaw.com.