For the second time since late April, the New York Stock Exchange has warned a major Cook Inlet oil and gas company that it is in danger of being removed from the exchange, this time because its market capitalization and stockholders' equity has fallen below the $50 million minimum threshold.
Miller Energy Resources, which expects to collect about $89 million from the state in cash payments for tax credits this year, released a statement Tuesday saying it "intends to notify the NYSE of its intent to regain compliance with this rule."
Miller, a Tennessee-based company, owns Cook Inlet Energy, which is exploring and developing oil and gas prospects in Cook Inlet and recently acquired the Badami Unit on the North Slope. Miller said the NYSE notification would not affect its business operations.
Miller told investors in April that it received $21 million in tax credit payments from the state in February and $21 million in March and expected to receive $33 million more by early June. It expected $14 million from the state in the second half of the calendar year.
On April 23, the exchange notified the company that the value of Miller stock had fallen below the $1 million trading benchmark for more than 30 consecutive trading days. Miller said it plans to get the value of the stock up above the $1 million level before the NYSE-imposed six-month deadline.
The stock has been trading near 60 cents a share, down nearly $6 from a year ago.
The NYSE issued the notice to Miller last Wednesday about falling short of the market capitalization and stockholders' equity levels, but the company did not announce it until Tuesday. Last week, Miller announced that it would defer dividend payments on its preferred stock.
"Under NYSE listing standards, the company will have 45 days from the date of the notice to submit a plan to the NYSE demonstrating the company's ability to regain compliance with the applicable rule within 18 months," Miller said of the market capitalization requirements. "Following receipt of the plan, the NYSE will have 45 days to review and evaluate it. If the NYSE accepts the plan, the company will be subject to quarterly monitoring for compliance with its terms. If the NYSE does not accept the plan, the company will be subject to suspension and delisting proceedings."
The company also announced in late April that the Securities and Exchange Commission was considering an enforcement action against Miller over valuation statements the company made in 2009 when it acquired assets in Alaska for about $2.3 million and said they were worth more than $325 million.
Last year Miller sold its assets in Tennessee and said it planned to focus on Alaska, where it added Savant Alaska and the Badami Unit on the North Slope to its holdings, partnering with Arctic Slope Regional Corp. Miller's subsidiary operates the Redoubt Unit, the West McArthur River Unit and the North Fork Unit in Cook Inlet.