ATLANTA, March 13, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Holzer Holzer & Cannon, LLC announced today 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 InterCept, Inc. ("InterCept" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:ICPT) publicly traded securities during the period between September 16, 2002 and January 9, 2003, inclusive (the "Class Period"). A copy of the complaint is available from the Court or by contacting Holzer Holzer & Cannon, LLC (toll-free) at (888) 508-6832 or by sending an e-mail to mfistel@hozerlaw.com.
The complaint alleges that, during the Class Period, InterCept and certain of its officers and/or directors violated the federal securities laws by making material misrepresentations and/or omitting to make material disclosures. Specifically, the complaint alleges that defendants made false assurances regarding the significance of their adult pornography Internet portion of the Company's merchant processing business and failed to disclose that VISA regulations implemented on November 1, 2002 caused a material loss of business. The complaint further alleges that defendants knew, by the time their fourth quarter earnings estimate was issued on November 4, 2002, that InterCept 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.
On January 9, 2003, InterCept announced that it was revising its fourth quarter 2002 earnings per share estimate downward. 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 by more than half of its pre-disclosure value on extraordinarily high trading volume.
If you bought InterCept publicly traded securities between September 16, 2002 and January 9, 2003, inclusive, and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than May 2, 2003. In order to serve as a lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements. If you have any questions about how you may be able to recover your losses, or if you would like to consider serving as one of the lead plaintiffs in this lawsuit, you are encouraged to call the firm.
Holzer Holzer & Cannon, LLP has substantial experience representing investors in securities fraud class actions such as this. Holzer Holzer & Cannon, LLP is located in Atlanta, Georgia, but represents investors in securities class action lawsuits throughout the country.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca