The Shareholders Foundation announces that an investor who currently holds NASDAQ:FRAN shares filed a lawsuit against directors of Francesca’s Holdings Corp over alleged breaches of fiduciary duties.
Investors who purchased shares of Francesca’s Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:FRAN) before March 2013 and currently hold any of those NASDAQ:FRAN shares, have certain options and should contact the Shareholders Foundation at mail(at)shareholdersfoundation.com or call +1(858) 779 – 1554.
The plaintiff alleges that the defendants caused the shares price of NASDAQ:FRAN to artificially inflate by issuing allegedly false and misleading statements and then sold almost $900 million of their shares at inflated prices.
Francesca’s Holdings Corp currently faces a lawsuit over alleged securities laws violations. According to that complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York the plaintiff alleges that Francesca’s Holdings Corp violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. More specifically, the plaintiff alleges that the defendants between March 20, 2013 and September 3, 2013 failed to disclose that unseasonably rainy and cold spring and summer weather had diminished the mall traffic Francesca’s relied upon to drive same-store sales growth, that a competitive back-to-school retail environment weighed on same-store sales growth, that same-store sales were declining, forcing Francesca’s to rely upon new store openings to increase sales, that Francesca’s Holdings Corp had been forced to engage in promotional selling at significant discounts during its first quarter 2013 in order to meet its financial targets, that Francesca’s Holdings Corp had been forced to increase promotional activity during the second quarter of 2013, that Francesca’s concealed the impact sales terms and margins with its suppliers would have on its ability to maintain above-average profit margins, and that, as a result, Francesca’s Holdings Corp was not on track to achieve the financial results defendants had led the market to expect between March 20, 2013 and September 3, 2013.
The plaintiff claims that as a result of defendants’ false and misleading statements between March 20, 2013 and September 3, 2013, certain company insiders were able to sell hundreds of millions of dollars of Francesca’s stock at artificially inflated prices.
On September 4, 2013, Francesca’s Holdings Corp reported its second quarter 2013 financial results. The Company also announced the board of directors authorized a $100 million share repurchase program.
Shares of Francesca’s Holdings Corp declined from almost $30 per share in May 2013 to as low as $16.65 per share in October 2013.
Those who purchased shares of Francesca’s Holdings Corp have certain options and should contact the Shareholders Foundation.
Contact:
Shareholders Foundation, Inc.
Trevor Allen
3111 Camino Del Rio North – Suite 423
92108 San Diego
Phone: +1-(858)-779-1554
Fax: +1-(858)-605-5739
mail@shareholdersfoundation.com