Nasdaq Warns Harris Again

In the US, the Nasdaq Stock Market has given Harris Interactive another notice of a possible delisting, following a drop in its share price below $1. This news follows last week's shake-up in the firm's leadership, and the departure of Chief Finance Officer Pavan Bhalla.

Last week, Harris announced that CEO Kimberly Till had left and been replaced on an interim basis by former COO Al Angrisani (pictured), who was brought back last month to advise the troubled company on a turnaround strategy.

Since Till's arrival at the company in 2008, the firm's fortunes had continued to decline; culminating in a 9% drop in quarterly revenue to $38.1m in the period before her departure.

Shares jumped 13.79% to $0.82 following news that Till had 'stepped down', but for the company to remain listed on the Nasdaq, its share price must climb back above the $1 mark and trade above it for thirty consecutive days. Yesterday, Harris shares closed at 72 cents, and they are currently trading at 74 cents.

Harris now has until December 12 to meet Nasdaq's requirement to trade at or above the threshold for 10 days prior to the deadline. If the firm does not comply with this, its common stock may be subject to delisting. Alternatively, Harris could be forced to move its trading from The Nasdaq Global Select Market to the Nasdaq Capital Market.

The same problem occurred in September 2009, when Nasdaq gave Harris 180 days to increase its share price, but by December 1 2009, the firm had regained compliance.

As part of its shake-up, Harris has also re-appointed Eric Narowski - its Principal Accounting Officer and Global Controller - as interim CFO, following the departure of Bhalla, who has left after just 8 months in the role. According to an SEC filing, Bhalla's reasons for leaving are not because of 'any disagreement with the company's accounting principles or practices, or financial statement disclosures'.

Narowski, who joined Harris in 2000, had previously held the interim role between the departure of Robert Cox in 2009 and the arrival of Bhalla last October.

Web sites: www.harrisinteractive.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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