Embattled Rite Aid Faces Delisting From NYSE

Forbes Innovation Healthcare Embattled Rite Aid Faces Delisting From NYSE Bruce Japsen Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I write about healthcare business and policy Following Oct 4, 2023, 05:34pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Rite Aid disclosed it was no longer in compliance with New York Stock Exchange ‘continued listing . .

. [+] standards” and needed to take measures to boost its share price to regain good standing, the company said October 4, 2023. In this photo, a customer leaves a Rite Aid store on April 14, 2022 in San Rafael, California.

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Getty Images Rite Aid Wednesday afternoon disclosed it was no longer in compliance with New York Stock Exchange “continued listing standards” and needs to take measures to boost its share price to regain good standing. The price of Rite Aid shares was trading at less than 55 cents a share Wednesday afternoon as the drugstore chain struggles financially amid reports a bankruptcy restructuring and hundreds of store closures loom. “Under the NYSE rules, the company is provided with certain cure periods and the company’s common stock will continue to be listed and traded on the NYSE during the cure periods, subject to the company’s compliance with other continued listing requirements,” Rite.

Aid said Wednesday. “The current noncompliance with the NYSE listing standards does not affect the ompany’s ongoing business operations or its U. S.

Securities and Exchange Commission reporting requirements, nor does it trigger any violation of its material debt or other obligations. ” Rite Aid, which operates more than 2,200 drugstores across 17 states, has been losing money for several years now and closing scores of unprofitable stores in hopes of improving operations. There have also been recent media reports that Rite Aid is considering renegotiating with creditors regarding terms of a bankruptcy plan.

On Wednesday, Rite Aid said it was looking at several options. “The company has been engaged in reviewing and continues to review strategic alternatives to recapitalize, refinance or otherwise optimize its capital structure, which may ultimately result in the company pursuing one or more significant corporate transactions or other remedial measures,” Rite Aid said. “The Ongoing Review includes an evaluation of available options to regain compliance with the NYSE’s continued listing standards.

The Company can provide no assurances that it will be able to regain compliance with the NYSE’s continued listing standards or otherwise and maintain the listing of its shares on the NYSE or the results of the Ongoing Review. ” MORE FOR YOU AstraZeneca Settles Lawsuits Alleging Heartburn Drugs Caused Kidney Disease For $425 Million FDA Authorizes Novavax s New Covid Vaccine Designed To Protect Against The Latest Strain Medicare Part D Drug Coverage In 2024 Some Will Pay Less But Will Others Pay More It’s not the first time Rite Aid has faced delisting from the NYSE. In 2019, Rite Aid shareholders approved a “reverse stock split” in an effort to keep the company’s stock from being delisted by the NYSE.

Back then, Rite Aid’s share price had plummeted to less than $1 following two failed mergers that contributed to the demise of CEO John Standley. Rite Aid is now operating with its second CEO since the Standley era. Rite Aid is now run by interim chief executive Elizabeth “Busy” Burr, who replaced Heyward Donigan in January .

Rite Aid on June 29 reported a quarterly loss of more than $306 million as the drugstore chain grapples with the loss of customers from its Elixir pharmacy benefit business . Rite Aid, which has closed more than 140 unprofitable stores in the last two years, reported a fiscal first quarter loss of $306. 7 million, or $5.

56 per share, for the period ended June 3, 2023. That compares with a loss of $110. 2 million, or $2.

03 per share in last year’s first quarter. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Check out my website or some of my other work here .

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