Friday, April 17, 2009

Stock exchange warns McClatchy over low market cap and low shareholder equity

Here's the latest on McClatchy getting delisted from the NYSE:
Shares of The McClatchy Co. (NYSE, for now: MNI) have been below $1 since Jan. 14, which in normal times would have been enough to boot them off the Big Board, and indeed it was warned by the enforcement arm NYSE Regulation Inc. back in February that it might be de-listed. But then the exchange suspended the dollar-a-share rule until the end of June, so McClatchy kept trading in the pennies.

After markets closed Friday, though, McClatchy disclosed that on April 14 it got another warning from the NYSE: Its market cap and shareholder equity are too low. NYSE-listed companies have to maintain a market capitalization and shareholder equity of at least $75 million, and MNI hasn’t been able to do that for a while. When it went 30 consecutive trading sessions below the market cap minimum, thecompliance notice kicked in.

Friday’s close of 58 cents a share indicates a market cap of just $48.17 million. McClatchy said in its recently filed annual report that shareholder equity was $52.4 million.

The parent of The Miami Herald and Kansas City Star now has 45 days to come up with a plan to get into compliance, and another 18 months to actually be in compliance. Of course, that’s theoretically the process -- because the Big Board hasn’t shown a lot of patience with newspaper stocks. Last year, three publishers -- Sun-Times Media Group, Journal Register Co., GateHouse Media -- were de-listed. Like McClatchy Friday, they had said they intend to develop a compliance plan.

MORE: NYSE to McClatchy: Shape Up, or Ship Out


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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let the "McClatchy Requiem" begin. Throw some lye on McClatchy and bury it in a pauper's grave.

Anonymous said...

With earnings coming out next Thursday, promising to be lokeman ghastly, I wonder first how management will soft soap us, and two, I wonder what all the MNI lib, Marxist types, destined for the unemployment office, will post here?

Anonymous said...

Well, you said the "M" word so it's a safe bet our little homosexual snark master will do a drive by with a few obscenities that he already knows will be deleted.

It's all good though. Nothing like a beautiful spring night listening to a bat bray to the moon.

Anonymous said...

Management's attitudes towards the remaining employees are changing. It's now, "we don't care if you don't like it and work like a dog! Maybe shemp will cut another 15% before the bankruptcy.

Anonymous said...

Desooner dey are delisted, debetter it will be.