SAN RAMON, Calif. FiNet.com Inc., a floundering online mortgage company, announced Wednesday that it has been granted a temporary reprieve from a potential de-listing of its common stock from the Nasdaq exchange.
FiNet.com will argue its case for continued listing on Dec. 19 at a hearing before the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel in Washington.
Since reaching a two-year high of $14.938 in April 1999, its stock has plunged 98%. The price first fell below $1 on April 14 and has closed above $1 on six days since then, the last of which was July 19. The stock was trading at 15.63 cents at midday Friday.
Nasdaq maintains several requirements for continued listing, including a minimum price of $1 per share. If a companys common stock closes below $1 for 30 consecutive days, Nasdaq notifies the company that its stock will be de-listed unless it closes at or above $1 for at least 10 consecutive days during the next 90 days.
A FiNet official said that de-listing from the Nasdaq and inclusion of the stock on the OTC Bulletin Board or a similar quotation system could adversely affect the liquidity and price of our common stock and make it more difficult for investors to obtain quotations or trade this stock.
The company shifted its focus to business-to-business lending in February after losing more than $35 million last year as a direct-to-consumer lender.
