Not enough time remains for Spanish Broadcasting system to get its stock price back to $1 or more for 10 days by next Monday to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum price rule. April 11th is the deadline set by the delisting letter that SBS received from the Nasdaq exchange last October.
The stock was briefly above $1 in January and March, but never for 10 consecutive sessions. Lately it has been a bit below 90 cents and wasn’t helped by the company’s Q4 earnings report, with radio revenues down 5%.
What happens next?
“If we do not regain compliance with the Rule by April 11, 2011, Nasdaq will provide written notification to us that our common stock is subject to delisting from the Nasdaq Global Market, at which time we will have an opportunity to appeal the determination to a Nasdaq Hearings Panel,” SBS said in its 10-K annual report filed with the SEC.
“We intend to use all reasonable efforts to maintain the listing of our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market, but there can be no guarantee that we will regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement,” the company said.
RBR-TVBR observation: Several publicly traded broadcasting companies were in danger of delisting for falling below the one buck minimum at various times in 2009 and 2010. All except SBS managed to crawl out of the hole. Still, the Nasdaq Hearings Panel process will take time, so SBS could still get its stock price back above $1 for 10 consecutive sessions before it is actually in danger of having to move to over-the-counter trading.
