Nasdaq Warns BEA Of Impending Delisting
BEA said Wednesday it has received a second notice from the Nasdaq exchange warning that the company's stock could be delisted if it remains delinquent in its required quarterly financial reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The latest notice was triggered by BEA's failure to file a report for its quarter ended Oct. 31. The San Jose, Calif., company already was in hot water for missing the filing deadline for its report on the previous quarter, ended July 31. BEA also has already had a hearing before the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel to plead its case and is awaiting the panel's decision.
For now, BEA remains on the Nasdaq. Its shares ended trading yesterday at $12.76, around the middle of the stock's 52-week trading range.
The BEA board's audit committee is conducting an investigation of the company's past stock-options grant, a probe it first disclosed in August. Earlier this month, the company said the review found that "the actual measurement dates for certain stock options differed from the recorded measurement dates for such stock options," meaning that it, too, is caught in the options-dating mess afflicting more than 100 companies.
BEA plans to issue amended financial reports once its audit committee completes its investigation and hashes through all the financial consequences of the options-dating errors.
Companies caught in options tangles have suffered varying fallout effects. Apple remains delinquent in its filings, and CEO Steve Jobs issued an apology. McAfee and ACS each fired their CEO over involvement in options discrepancies.
Dell and Novell also are under Nasdaq warnings about delinquent filings held up by options investigations. Mercury Interactive agreed to be acquired by Hewlett-Packard after cutting loose its CEO and CFO following an options probe.