Bally Total Fitness subject to delisting

Bally Total Fitness subject to delisting

	Published : Fri, 30 Mar 2007 20:54 By : Agencies Print this Story

NEW YORK (AP) - Troubled fitness center operator Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. said Friday its shares may be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange due to the company's failure to file its 2006 annual report on time, among other factors.

This marks the latest blow for the Chicago-based company, which warned March 15 it may file to reorganize its operations under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection -- news that sent shares plummeting 62 percent.

Trading in Bally's shares has been suspended on the New York Stock Exchange since March 16 because the stock was set to open at or below $1.05 -- the minimum bid on the NYSE. Bally shares have since traded on other markets.

Bally warned earlier this month it wouldn't be able to file its annual financial statements by the March 16 deadline due to errors in historical member data. On-time filing of financial reports is a requirement for listing on the New York Stock Exchange, which will consider Bally a 'late filer' if it has not yet filed its annual report by April 2.

On Monday, the New York Stock Exchange rated Bally 'below criteria' for failing to comply with the exchange's listing standards, according to the company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The NYSE also pointed to the company's failure to maintain an average market capitalization of at least $75 million over 30 consecutive trading days, another listing criteria.

Due to Bally's non-compliance on several issues, the exchange has asked the company to respond to its notification more quickly than in the standard 45-day window.

The New York Stock Exchange will delist Bally's stock if it does not submit an acceptable business plan that indicates how the company will regain compliance within 18 months. If Bally shares are delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, the company said it will make arrangements to be quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board or a similar quotation system.

Bally shares dropped 3 cents, or 4.1 percent, to 67 cents in afternoon trading. Since hitting a high of $9.92 last March, the stock had been on a steady decline, but Bally's announcement earlier this month of potential bankruptcy sent shares into a free-fall from which they haven't recovered.