Cable's biggest competitive overbuilder could be on its way to a NASDAQ
delisting.
Shares in RCN Corp. closed at 58 cents each Friday, marking the
43rd consecutive day the stock closed below $1. NASDAQ spokesman
Scott Peterson said companies that trade on the exchange are sent a delisting
warning letter if their stock closes below $1 for 30 consecutive trading
days.
Per NASDAQ procedures, the exchange gave RCN a 180-day grace period, during which its stock would have to
close above $1 for 10 consecutive days in order to retain its listing.
RCN spokeswoman Nancy Bavec said the company received a warning letter from
NASDAQ. But she added that RCN expects to receive a six-month extension on
NASDAQ's 180-day grace period.
'The company will continue to improve operations, as we have for the past six
quarters, and look for ways to strengthen the balance sheet,' RCN said in a
prepared statement.
It's been a rough year for RCN, which runs systems in New York, Philadelphia,
Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C. In August, it cut 500 employees and
took a $892 million impairment charge, most of which resulted from
'underutilized network-related assets and certain abandoned
assets.'
