The New York Stock Exchange has informed Centrus Energy Corp. that the Portsmouth decontamination and decommissioning contractor is not in compliance with NYSE listing standards in the NYSE company guide, as Centrus reported a stockholders’ deficit as of Sept. 30, as well as net losses in 2011, 2012, and 2013, according to a Monday Centrus press release. According to NYSE’s
website, Centrus is noncompliant with two of those regulations, as the company has had “equity below $2 billion and years of losses,” and “equity below $4 million and years of losses.” Centrus is preparing to submit a plan for compliance to the NYSE by Dec. 17 that demonstrates the company’s ability to regain compliance by May 17, 2017, the release states.
Centrus CEO and President Dan Poneman emphasized that his company expects a to deliver a solid fourth quarter for 2015. “Centrus continues to expect a strong fourth quarter – accounting for about 40 percent of our annual revenue,” he said in a statement. “We are on track to achieve our 2015 annual guidance, with $425 million to $450 million in total revenue and end of year cash and cash equivalents of $175 million to $200 million. We are continuing to book new sales and develop additional sources of supply to serve our customers’ needs. We will submit a plan of compliance to the NYSE MKT reflecting our expectation of the continued expansion of our nuclear fuel business in the years to come.”
Although it appears that Centrus will remain listed for now, the firm’s poor recent financial performance—it posted $85.6 million in losses through the first three quarters of 2015—has drawn the attention of NYSE. Yesterday’s news comes eight days after Centrus issued a memo in line with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, in which the company stated that a possible plant closing or mass layoff of more than 50 employees could begin on or around Jan. 11, 2016, at the company’s American Centrifuge facilities in Piketon, Ohio.
“While wanting to continue aspects of the program, DOE and ORNL have indicated that there will be a significant reduction in program funding for the 2016 government fiscal year, with all future program activities being carried out at the Company’s Oak Ridge, Tennessee facilities,” the memo states. “While we remain in discussions with the Congress, ORNL and DOE regarding the restoration of full funding in order to continue the important work being done at Piketon, we have received no indication from DOE as to whether we will be successful in this effort. A failure to receive additional funding to support our work at Piketon will cause the near-term elimination of a number of positions at the Company’s Piketon facility.”
