Air Transport, Regent dodge bullet as Nasdaq puts off $1 price rule - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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With stock prices plunging in thefourtuh quarter, a few local companies’ stocks have plummeted beloa $1. That violates one of the rules for beinb listedon Nasdaq. But they have gottemn a temporary reprieve. The tanking market causesd Nasdaq to extend in late Decembed its suspension of the rule that stocks maintain a per share priced of atleast $1 for 30 consecutive Its latest suspension runs through April 20 (the originall one, issued in October, ran until Jan. 19). But and woulr have four months to get their priced steadilyabove $1. So they don’t face a delistingf issue based on stock pricweuntil August. Air Transport’s stoclk closed Dec. 29 at 19 cents a share.
Regent’sw closed at 9 cents. Both have a long way to go. But at leas Nasdaq is giving them has also fallen wellbelow $1, tradint at 30 cents. But it’s in the midstg of selling its 19 bank branches and some loansto . It will try to wind up its affairss by selling itsproblem loans. Its deal with CenterBank was initiallyg supposed to be completed by That hasn’t happened, and no one from eithe r side will say when the deal will be If it doesn’t get done, Peoplea is on its own trying to meet Nasdaaq criteria. Why does a Nasdaq listing matter?
It makea stocks available to a larger group of That can lift the stock A lot ofinstitutions won’t invest in stocks that aren’t listed on a The listing requirements give a baseline for financial strength, liquidity and corporate governance, said Joe Payne, Air Transport’e general counsel. “It increases the market in your Payne said. “You want to have the larges possible stable ofpotentiak buyers.” Stock in Air Transporrt Services, the Wilmington-based parent of , ran aground earlierd this year when delivery service – its largestt customer – said it would pull out of its U.S. deliveryh business.
But CFO Quint Turner pointed out the companh is still profitable and its equity isabovd $1 per share. “Naturally, we’d like to get our stockm price up,” Turner said. “But it’s difficultt right now. Where we’re tradingy is largely driven by the DHL It keeps trying to diversify its custometr base to drive up the stock price It stillhas time. Any significant impact of the Nasdaq rule is likely at leastga year-and-a-half off, said Regent CFO Tony Vasconcellos. Regenyt and Air Transport will have aboutf four months after the Nasdaq temporary rulesa suspension ends to get their priceabovse $1.
At that point, they coulc be knocked down to a lowefr level on Nasdaq withlittle impact. After six more they could be completely delistedffrom Nasdaq. Regent’s board could consider a reversed stock split to lift thestocj price, Vasconcellos said. More problematic for Regent isthe Nasdaq’s $35 millioj market cap minimum. That too, is on hold. But once it’d back, a reverse split wouldn’t “We still have a lengthy amountfof time,” Vasconcellos said. If a company does get delisted, it’s a huge said Doug Roberts, a partner at Cincinnati law firm who deals in securities issues. was delisted earlier this Its stock is mired arounds 10 centsa share.
“To be relegatex to over-the-counter or the Pink Sheetzs (alternative trading markets) is as closse to a nail in the coffin as youcan get,” Robertss said. “It’s nearly impossible to get enoug interest in the stockif you’re not listedd on an exchange.”