CASES
Imperial Sugar Company
Class Period: Dec 29, 2010 to Aug 5, 2011
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Oct 31, 2011 + Deadline passed
Summary of Case:
A securities class action has been filed against Imperial Sugar Company ("ISC" or the "Company") on behalf of all those who purchased the common stock of ISC between December 29, 2010 to August 05, 2011. This case has been filed in the USDC - Texas (Southern).
The complaint alleges that, during the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business and prospects. Specifically, defendants misrepresented and/or failed to disclose the following adverse facts: (a) that the Company was experiencing a known but undisclosed reduction in customer demand for its products resulting from Mexican and other sugar refiners selling sugar products into ISC's markets at steeply discounted prices; (b) that the decline in the Company's sales volumes during the Class Period was primarily due to a lack of customer demand ensuing from forays by competitors selling lower-priced products into ISC's markets and not due to Company refinery production supply constraints; (c) that, as a result of the foregoing, ISC was experiencing a significant decline in its gross margins, particularly in the second half of the Class Period; (d) that the Company's Port Wentworth, Georgia refinery was experiencing ongoing operating defects that resulted in higher production costs and adversely impacted ISC's gross margins; (e) that defendants' representations about the Company's disclosure controls were materially false and misleading; and (f) that, based on the foregoing, defendants lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about the Company and its business prospects during the Class Period.
On August 5, 2011, ISC announced its operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2011. That same day, ISC filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2011, which revealed that the Company's industrial sales volumes had declined by more than 40% from the same prior year period.
Following the Company's 2011 fiscal third quarter earnings announcement, defendants held a conference call with securities analysts for investors wherein it was revealed that: (i) the Company's 2011 industrial orders, and hence, its industrial sales volumes, were booked and therefore known to defendants well in advance of 2011; (ii) ISC had filled all of its existing orders during the June 2011 quarter, including its industrial orders; (iii) production at the Company's refineries did not limit its sales volumes; (iv) ISC's Port Wentworth, Georgia refinery had experienced ongoing operating defects, resulting in higher production costs that adversely impacted the Company's gross margins; and (v) competitive pricing by low cost Mexican and other sugar refiners had a material adverse effect on the Company's sales and gross margins.
In response to these revelations, shares of the Company's common stock plummeted nearly 60%, from $23.19 per share on August 4, 2011 to $9.44 on August 5, 2011.
("ISC" or the "Company") on behalf of all those who purchased the common stock of ISC between December 29, 2010 to August 05, 2011. This case has been filed in the USDC - Texas (Southern).
If you purchased this company's shares during the Class Period and suffered a loss or for further information about the case, please review the links below.