Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Files Class Action Suit Against Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc.

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Mar 03, 2017, 21:00 ET

SAN DIEGO, March 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP ("Robbins Geller") (http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/bandw/) today announced that a class action has been commenced on behalf of purchasers of Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. ("B&W") (NYSE: BW) common stock during the period between July 1, 2015 and February 28, 2017 (the "Class Period"). This action was filed in the Western District of North Carolina and is captioned Ollila v. Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc., et al., No. 17-cv-00109.

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff's counsel, Darren Robbins of Robbins Geller at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at [email protected]. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/bandw/. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.

The complaint charges B&W and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. B&W is a technology-based provider of advanced fossil and renewable power generation equipment that includes a suite of boiler products, environmental systems, and services for power and industrial uses.

The complaint alleges that the Company operates in three reportable segments: Power, Renewable, and Industrial. Through Power, the Company provides the supply and aftermarket services for steam-generating and auxiliary equipment for power generation and other industrial applications. Through its Renewable segment, B&W supplies steam-generating systems, environmental, and auxiliary equipment for the waste-to-energy and biomass power generation industries. The Company's Industrial segment provides custom-engineered environmental solutions, industrial equipment, and aftermarket parts and services through Babcock & Wilcox MEGTEC Holdings, Inc., and provides custom-engineered comprehensive dry and wet cooling solutions and aftermarket services to the power generation industry, including natural gas-fired and renewable energy power plants, as well as downstream oil and gas, petrochemical, and other industrial end-markets through SPIG S.p.A., which B&W acquired on July 1, 2016.

On July 1, 2015, B&W began trading independently as a public company after spinning off from The Babcock & Wilcox Company by way of distribution of shares of B&W common stock to holders of the Company's former parent. The distribution of B&W common stock was made on June 30, 2015, and consisted of one share of B&W common stock for every two shares of the former parent's common stock as of the record date, June 18, 2015. Cash was paid in lieu of any fractional shares of B&W common stock.

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, the Company was experiencing significant, undisclosed problems in its Renewable segment. Although defendants disclosed issues with a single project in the Renewable business on June 28, 2016, the complaint alleges they failed to disclose that similar problems were significantly and negatively impacting other projects in the Company's Renewable segment, instead assuring investors during a business update call that the problems were "a single project issue." In response to this partial disclosure, as well as lowered financial guidance for 2016, the price of B&W stock declined by 21% on June 28, 2016.

Then, after the market closed on February 28, 2017, the Company announced its fourth quarter and full year 2016 financial results. Missing earnings expectations by a wide margin, the Company lost $71.6 million, or ($1.47) per share, in the fourth quarter on revenue totaling $380 million. Accounting for one-time gains and losses, the announcement was even worse, with the Company losing an adjusted $77.7 million, or ($1.60) per share, on continuing operations – a full $1.97 per share lower than the average analyst's projection for adjusted earnings per share ("EPS") of positive $0.37. The Company also revealed that it took charges in the fourth quarter 2016 resulting from its Renewable business, which reduced margins, and also increased its contingencies for several of its Renewable projects, which also negatively impacted the Company's financial condition.

On this news, the price of B&W stock dropped rapidly. After closing at $16.50 per share on February 28, 2017, the stock opened at $11.09 on March 1, 2017, and ultimately dropped 37% to close at $10.33 per share on abnormally high trading volume.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of B&W common stock during the Class Period (the "Class"). The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions including actions involving financial fraud.

Robbins Geller is widely recognized as one of the leading law firms advising U.S. and international institutional investors in securities litigation and portfolio monitoring. With 200 lawyers in 10 offices, Robbins Geller has obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history and was ranked first in both total amount recovered for investors and number of securities class action recoveries in ISS's SCAS Top 50 Report for the last two years. Robbins Geller attorneys have shaped the law in the areas of securities litigation and shareholder rights and have recovered tens of billions of dollars on behalf of the Firm's clients. Robbins Geller not only secures recoveries for defrauded investors, it also strives to implement corporate governance reforms, helping to improve the financial markets for investors worldwide. Please visit rgrdlaw.com/cases/bandw/ for more information.

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SOURCE Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP