JDSU Slapped With Suit

BALA CYNWYD, Pa. -- The following statement was issued today by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP: Notice is hereby given that a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of all purchasers of the common stock of JDS Uniphase Corp. (Nasdaq: JDSU - news; ``JDS Uniphase'') from July 27, 1999 through July 26, 2001, inclusive (the ``Class Period''). The complaint charges JDS Uniphase Corp. and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial condition. JDS Uniphase is a provider of fiber optic components and modules which form the building blocks for fiber optic networks. The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants were motivated to inflate the value of JDS Uniphase stock so that the Company could make acquisitions using stock and so the individual defendants, who are the top officers and directors of JDS Uniphase, could sell their shares. During the Class Period, defendants represented that demand was accelerating and the Company's only problem was its ability to manufacture enough product to meet demand. Defendants represented that they had outstanding visibility, including demand for the Company's products through the end of fiscal 2001 (``F01,'' ended on 6/30/01), and that JDS Uniphase had 80 engineers whose job it was to monitor customers and their inventory levels and as a result, JDS Uniphase would learn about any slowdown in demand early. The Company also misrepresented the success of its largest acquisitions, including Optical Coating Labs, Cronos Integrated Microsystems, E-Tek Dynamics and SDL Inc. As a result of these positive statements, JDS Uniphase stock traded as high as $146.32. The Individual Defendants (all of whom were top officers and directors of the Company) and its controlling shareholder took advantage of the inflation, selling or disposing of 25.2 million shares of their JDS Uniphase stock for proceeds of $2.1 billion. Then, on 7/26/01, JDS Uniphase announced the restatement of its 3rdQ F01 results, the write-off of $44 billion in goodwill associated with its acquisitions, inventory write-downs and that F01 EPS would be only $0.16 and that it would incur a loss of $0.15 in F02. On this news, JDS Uniphase shares dropped to as low as $7.90 -- or more than 94% lower than the Class Period high of $146.32. JDS Uniphase Inc.