YNOT – FriendFinder Networks Inc., parent company of Penthouse and other adult brands, faces a deadline of July 9 to meet minimum share-price requirements or be delisted by the NASDAQ public markets.
According to a FriendFinder filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, “On January 10, 2012, the company received a notice of non-compliance from Nasdaq stating that the minimum bid price of its common stock had fallen below $1 per share for the last 30 consecutive business days. Nasdaq Rule 5450(a)(1) requires a $1 minimum bid for continued listing of an issuer’s common stock.”
In order to comply with the rule, the company’s per-share common stock price must close at $1 or higher for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days between Jan. 10 and July 9.
NASDAQ also notified FriendFinder, which trades as FFN, that it must regain a total market value of at least $15 million by July 5 in order to remain listed. A failure to meet either condition could cause the company to lose its NASDAQ privileges.
FriendFinder’s initial public offering opened in May at $10 per share, generating $50 million. Within a week, shares lost nearly half their market value and never recovered. Within 24 hours after FriendFinder Networks released its second quarter earnings statement in mid-August, shares plunged 70 cents to $3.30 before rallying to close at $3.37 — a daily loss of 63 cents, or 15.75 percent. Analysts blamed the second tumble on what several called “disappointing” earnings during the company’s first quarter on the NASDAQ.
On Tuesday, FFN opened at 87.84 cents, up over the previous trading day’s closing price of 86.13 cents.
FFN is not the only adult company with public markets woes. NASDAQ suspended Private Media Group’s privileges in mid-November and is in the process of permanently delisting the Barcelona-based company based on “public interest” concerns about Private’s leadership and financial health. Private, in receivership by order of a Nevada court, recently ousted all but one member of its board of directors after a U.S. federal court ordered the company to hold a new corporate election. Among those given the boot was Berth Milton, Private’s embattled former chairman and chief executive officer and the son of the company’s founder.
