O.C. BUSINESS PLUS : ORANGE COUNTY BRIEFLY : Day Runner Misstated Finances, Lawsuits Say

Day Runner Inc. has been hit with two lawsuits claiming the company violated securities laws, shareholder lawyers have announced.

Both lawsuits seek class-action status and apply to people who bought stock in the Irvine-based maker of address books and other personal organizers from Oct. 20, 1998, to Aug. 31, 1999.

A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles alleges that Day Runner and some of its officers and directors “materially misrepresented” the company’s financial condition during that period by disseminating false and misleading financial statements for the 1999 fiscal reporting period, according to a statement released late Tuesday by the Weiss & Yourman law firm. Details of the other legal action by a Florida attorney were not available.

Neither Day Runner nor its attorneys could be reached for comment.

Day Runner’s stock--which hit a 52-week high of $23 on Dec. 2--closed Wednesday at $9.50, up 19 cents. The company has lost $9.8 million in the last two quarters.