NY judge rules Alstom class action can proceed
LOS ANGELES, Sept 5 (Reuters) - A New York judge has ruled that an investor class action can go forward against Alstom SA (ALSO.PA) and two former executives, with claims that the French power and transport company inflated its share price by making false statements in its financial reports.
U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero also ruled that French plaintiffs must bring their claims in French courts and that English and Dutch plaintiffs can participate only in U.S. claims against the former executives and U.S. subsidiaries.
The judge also modified the time frame covered by the lawsuit to between Aug. 3, 1999 to Aug. 6, 2003 from a wider window sought by plaintiffs, in an order filed on Aug. 27.
An Alstom spokesman said on Friday "there is still no decision" on the company's response to the ruling. "The legal process is still going on," he said.
The investors allege that Alstom artificially inflated its share price by making materially false and misleading statements about the demand and revenue it earned for its cruise ships and the profitability of its Alstom Transportation Inc subsidiary, the order said.
Investors filed the first of several lawsuits in August 2003, after the company restated its fiscal year profit by 151 million euros and subsequently lost 93 percent of its market capitalization when its share price crashed, the order said.
The lawsuits were later consolidated and several lead plaintiffs were named, including State Universities Retirement System of Illinois, the Louisiana State Employees Retirement System, the West Virginia Investment Management Board and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 269.
In addition to Alstom SA, the lawsuit names Alstom USA Inc, Alstom Transportation Inc, former Chief Executive Officer Pierre Bilger, and former Chief Financial Officer Francois Newey. (Reporting by Gina Keating, editing by Richard Chang)
