Summary of Case:
Scott + Scott has filed a securities class action against SunOpta, Inc. (Ticker: STKL) ("SunOpta" or the "Company") on behalf of all securities purchasers from August 8, 2007 through January 25, 2008 (Class Period) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The complaint alleges that SunOpta and certain of the Company's officers and directors are charged with making a series of materially false and misleading statements related to the Company's business and operations. On January 24, 2008, defendants shocked investors after they published a release that revealed, for the first time, that SunOpta was performing well below expectations and that defendants expected to cause the Company to take a material restatement charge in the near term -- rending its prior reported financial statements and reports unreliable, false and materially misleading. SunOpta, which processes and produces organic foods, said it expected to post a profit of 12 cents to 14 cents per share for the year, citing issues within its fruit and BioProcess groups that led to pretax write-downs and provisions of $12 million to $14 million. Among problems the Company cited were inventories within the Company's Fruit Group's berry operations requiring write-down to net realizable value, whereby "preliminary estimates indicated that an adjustment in the range of $9 to $11 million for this issue and related items is necessary." Furthermore, the Company disclosed a charge of "approximately $3 million pre-tax, related to difficulties in collecting for services and equipment provided to a customer under the terms of an existing equipment supply contract within the SunOpta BioProcess Group."
On this news, belatedly revealed on January 24, 2008, shares of SunOpta stock fell precipitously, collapsing over 40%, from a close of $9.50 per share to approximately $6.00 per share in the single trading day -- on very high trading volume of over 11.488 million shares traded.
PLEASE NOTE: THE CLASS PERIOD HAS BEEN EXPANDED TO INCLUDE MAY 8, 2007 THROUGH JANUARY 25, 2008.
