Bank of Granite receives delisting notice
GRAN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Bank of Granite announced Wednesday it received a Nov. 12 letter from the NASDAQ Stock Market notifying the company that because the bid price for its stock has fallen below $1 per share, it no longer complies with the minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on the exchange's Global Select Market.
NASDAQ's listing rules require a minimum bid price of $1 per share. Based on the closing bid price of the bank's common stock for the 30 consecutive business days prior to the date of NASDAQ's letter, Bank of Granite does not meet the requirement.
Bank of Granite closed Wednesday at 46 cents per share, up 5 cents from the previous day. The stock has been trading below $1 since Oct. 1. Two years ago, the stock was trading above $11.
The bank has delayed its third-quarter earnings report for the period that ended Sept. 30, though it has indicated it expects to show a loss of around $3.7 million.
Regional banks in Western North Carolina have been hard hit by the severe downturn in the economy as commercial and personal loans have soured in the face of double-digit unemployment.
Bank of Granite CEO Scott Anderson said the announcement of the delisting notice is in accordance with NASDAQ regulations. He said the bank continues in its efforts to show improvement, despite the economic headwinds.
"We continue to work diligently, and we continue to see progress," Anderson said. "But the economy is still very, very uncertain. Our clients and communities continue to struggle, and we struggle with them."
In September, the bank entered into a cease and desist order agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the state banking commissioner to stop "unsafe and unsound banking practices and violations."
Bank of Granite also is under order to make quarterly reports to the FDIC and the state banking commissioner to show that it is improving management and oversight of the bank.
The NASDAQ notification does not mean the immediate delisting of Bank of Granite's shares from the exchange. The bank has until May 11, 2010, to return to compliance. To meet the requirement, Bank of Granite's closing bid price must meet or exceed $1 per share for at least 10 consecutive business days prior to the deadline.
Bank of Granite operates 20 banking offices in eight counties -- Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Forsyth, Iredell, Mecklenburg, Watauga and Wilkes.
To see more of the News-Topic or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.newstopic.net/. Copyright (c) 2009, News-Topic, Lenoir, N.C.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax
to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave.,
Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
For full details on Bank Of Granite Corp (GRAN) GRAN. Bank Of Granite Corp (GRAN) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on Bank Of Granite Corp (GRAN) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.
- SmarTrend Detects Continued Selling Pressure in Shares of Bank of Granite (GRAN) - 02/09/10
- Bank of Granite Corporation (GRAN) Corporate Event Announcement Notice - 02/05/10
- Bank of Granite regains NASDAQ listing - 02/05/10
- Bank of Granite Corporation (GRAN) Corporate Event Announcement Notice - 02/04/10
- Bank of Granite Corporation Announces NASDAQ Compliance and Preliminary Fourth Quarter Information - 02/03/10
- More News >>
