BALA CYNWYD, Pa., June 20, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Shareholders of Textron, Inc. (NYSE:TXT) ("Textron" or the "Company") who desire to serve as a lead plaintiff in a shareholder class action lawsuit now pending in federal court in Rhode Island (CA-02264) must submit an application with the Court by June 25, 2002 according to the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP.
The lawsuit seeks damages for violations of the federal securities laws on behalf of all investors who purchased Textron, Inc. between October 19, 2000 and September 26, 2001 (the "Class Period").
Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP has prosecuted shareholder class actions for over fourteen years and has recovered more than $1 billion for investors. If you are a shareholder of Textron, Inc. and want to learn more about this lawsuit and about becoming a lead plaintiff, you may visit our website at http://www.sbclasslaw.com/cgi/signup.cgi.
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.
If you purchased Textron, Inc. securities between October 19, 2000 and September 26, 2001, you may be a member of the class and have until June 25, 2002 to move the court to become a lead plaintiff. In order to serve as lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements. To be a member of the class, however, you do not need to take any action at this time. Should you decide to seek appointment as a lead plaintiff, you may retain Schiffrin & Barroway, or retain counsel of your choice.
To learn more about your rights and interests in this case and your ability to potentially recoup your losses, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway (Marc A. Topaz, Esq. or Stuart L. Berman, Esq.) directly at 888-299-7706 (toll free) or 610-822-2221, fax number 610-822-0002, e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com or visit our website at www.sbclasslaw.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at http://www.primezone.com/ca