The stock of Las Vegas-based Riviera Holdings Corp. took another hit today after the company announced plans to voluntarily delist its common stock from the NYSE Amex LLC exchange because of its financial troubles.
Riviera, owner of a hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip and a casino in Colorado, said it received a deficiency letter from the exchange indicating that the company is not in compliance with the exchange's listing standards.
Riviera said the exchange told it Monday "that it has sustained losses which are so substantial in relation to its overall operations or its existing financial resources, or its financial condition has become so impaired that it appears questionable, in the opinion of the exchange, as to whether the company will be able to continue operations and/or meet its obligations as they mature.''
Rather than appeal or submit a plan to bloster its finances, Riviera is leaving that stock exchange.
Riviera will seek to have its stock quoted on the penny stock exchange, called the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board. This exchange offers less visibility and liquidity than does the NYSE Amex, the combined New York and American stock exchanges.
Riviera stock has been hit hard by the recession. Trading as high as $39.12 in 2007, it closed Friday at 88 cents, down 41 cents or 32 percent.
Riviera said it expects that the last day of trading for its common stock on the NYSE Amex Exchange will be around June 25.
In March, because the recession had cut visitation to its properties, Riviera said it chose not to make an interest payment on its debt and warned it may need to file for bankruptcy protection.
The company, which at year-end employed the equivalent of 1,137 people at its property on the Las Vegas Strip, said net revenue fell 28 percent year-over-year in the first quarter to $34.7 million. In the first quarter of 2009, it lost $1 million, or 8 cents per share vs. a loss in the 2008 quarter of $5.8 million, or 47 cents.
