Chitwood & Harley LLP Announces Filing of Securities Fraud Class Action Suit against MasTec, Inc. and Certain of Its Officers or Directors.

Business Editors/Legal Writers

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 2004

Chitwood & Harley LLP announces that it has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida against MasTec, Inc. ("MasTec" or the "Company")(NYSE: MTZ). The civil action number is 04-20924. A copy of the complaint is available from the court or can be found on our website, www.classlaw.com. The suit alleges claims on behalf of a class consisting of purchasers of the publicly traded securities of MasTec between May 13, 2003 and April 12, 2004, inclusive (the "Class Period").

If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights with respect to this matter, you may contact Lauren Antonino at 1-888-873-3999 (toll-free) or by e-mail at [e-mail]. She will attempt to answer your questions without cost or obligation. You may also contact us through our website, www.classlaw.com by clicking on "MasTec." If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff in this action, you must file a motion to do so no later than June 14, 2004. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of his or her choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.

The complaint charges MasTec, Austin Shanfelter, and Donald Weinstein with violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. The Complaint alleges that defendants made material misstatements with respect to the Company's financial results. More specifically, the Complaint alleges that defendants failed to disclose and indicate the following: (1) that the Company was materially inflating its financial results; (2) that the Company was prematurely recognizing revenue on various contracts; (3) that the Company's practice of improperly recognizing revenue was in violation of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles; (4) that the Company overstated its inventory; (5) that the Company failed to have adequate reserves for bad debts, inventory, cost overruns, and projected losses on certain projects; and (6) as a result, the Company's financial results were materially inflated at all relevant times.

According to the Complaint, the truth about the Company's inflated financial results began to emerge on March 10, 2004, when MasTec announced that the filing of its 10-K would be delayed past the March 15th deadline. Upon this news, MasTec shares fell $2.00 per share (16.75%) on March 10, 2004 to close at $9.94 per share. On March 18, 2004, MasTec further declined $2.31 per share (23%) to close at $7.75 per share when Standard & Poor's Rating Services put the Company's BB credit rating on watch for a downgrade.

On April 13, 2004, MasTec announced its 2003 operating results and disclosed material problems that could result in a restatement of its previously announced financial results. More specifically, the Company announced a net loss of $39.7 million ($0.83 per share) on revenue of $873.9 million for the year. Additionally, the Company disclosed that during its review and analysis of the Company's annual results, MasTec's management identified a number of matters that impacted current and prior-period operating results. These included additional reserves for bad debts and inventory, cost overruns and projected losses on certain projects, valuation reserves for state deferred tax assets, revenues recognized on various contracts, work in progress and inventory overstatements at a Canadian subsidiary, the closing of Brazilian operations, the accrual for certain insurance reserves which was complicated by the receivership of a prior insurance carrier, and other items. Defendants concluded that these matters required a detailed analysis and evaluation to determine the appropriate accounting treatment. Some of these issues may require restatements of amounts previously reported. This news shocked the market. MasTec's stock price dropped $1.50 per share (15.5%) on April 13, 2004 on unusually large trading volumes.

Chitwood & Harley LLP is a class action firm that concentrates its practice in representing victims of securities fraud and corporate mismanagement, as well as other complex litigation. Chitwood & Harley has been appointed lead counsel in major actions throughout the United States and has been instrumental in recovering billions of dollars on behalf of its clients. Clients and courts alike have praised the results achieved by Chitwood & Harley. Recently, the federal judge in In re BankAmerica Securities Litigation, which resulted in the highest recovery in 2002 in a securities class action, commented favorably on counsel's performance stating: "Class members were well served by experienced attorneys who, through considerable time and effort, obtained a significant recovery for their clients," and, "(a)s the Court has remarked throughout this litigation, class counsel ... have performed at exceptionally high levels, and all parties have been exceedingly well represented."

For more information about Chitwood & Harley, please visit our website at www.classlaw.com or contact Lauren Antonino at 1-888-873-3999 (toll-free), by e-mail at [e-mail] or at 1230 Peachtree Street, Suite 2300, Atlanta, Georgia 30309.