Spanish Broadcasting System was unable to push its common stock price over $1.00 on the deadline day of 4/11/11, and it has until 4PM eastern time on Tuesday 4/19/11 to stave off delisting as of the opening of business the following morning, Wednesday 4/20/11. It says it will request such a hearing.
SBS was put on notice 10/12/10, which started the ticking on a six month clock during which the company could regain compliance with the exchange’s $1.00 minimum rule. The stock had to remain above that level for ten consecutive days.
Although it surfaced above the dollar threshold on occasions in January and March, it never managed ten days in a row.
It did not help when the company failed to participate in the general revenue recovery many companies began to enjoy late last year. It closed the fourth quarter of 2010 with a radio revenue decline of 5%.
SBS had earlier stated that it would make all reasonable effort to maintain its listing. In its current statement on the matter, it spoke of the hearing it is entitled to and stated, “The Company intends to request such a hearing, which will stay any action with respect to the Staff Determination until the NASDAQ Hearings Panel renders a decision subsequent to the hearing. However, there can be no assurance that NASDAQ will grant the Company’s request for continued listing.”
RBR-TVBR observation: SBS is the last of a group of public broadcast companies to get back into compliance with minimum share price benchmarks. If it gets the hearing it wants, it will at least buy time to get back to a dollar for the required 10 days. Its last trade at the end of Friday 4/15/11 was a dime short of that mark.
