Tuesday, September 16, 2008

StockerYale wins Nasdaq compliance extension until Christmas

By Mass High Tech Staff

Laser and LED systems maker StockerYale Inc. reports that on September 15 it received an extension from Nasdaq to it efforts to regain compliance with the $1 minimum bid price requirement to stay trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market until December 23, 2008.

Salem, N.H.-based StockerYale must hold a closing bid price of $1 or more for a minimum of ten consecutive trading days prior to that date to maintain its listing on the Nasdaq market. The Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel sent StockerYale (Nasdaq: STKR) the notice, according to company officials.

Nasdaq originally sent notice to StockerYale in December of 2007 that it was out of compliance because its stock had been trading under $1 for 30 consecutive business days. The company did not regain compliance and on June 26, 2008, StockerYale got written notification that its common stock would be subject to delisting. StockerYale requested a hearing before the Qualifications Panel, which was held on August 14, and presented a plan to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement.

Late last month, after several bids over the summer to acquire Canada-based laser technology maker Virtek Vision International Inc., StockerYale Inc. let its final offer expire. StockerYale’s final offer of 70 cents per share, which was a 4 cent increase from its original offer in May, was not accepted by the Canadian company. Since then, South Windsor, Conn.-based Gerber Scientific Inc. has swooped in to buy Virtek for $33 million in cash.

In late June, StockerYale Inc. won an evergreen contract for its Photonics Products unit to supply an unnamed global technology company’s telecommunications division with customized, packaged laser diodes. The contract, according to StockerYale officials, should be worth a six-figure dollar amount initially and increase over time.

Founded in 1946 as Stocker & Yale Inc., the photonics company reported a 2007 net loss of $8.5 million on revenue of $29.9 million.