MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- STEN Corporation
(Nasdaq: STEN), a Minneapolis-based diversified business, announced that today
it notified The Nasdaq Stock Market of its intent to voluntarily delist its
common stock from The Nasdaq Stock Market.
The Company incurs substantial costs on an annual basis as a consequence
of its Nasdaq listing, while realizing only limited benefits. The Company's
board of directors has concluded that the benefits of having its common stock
listed are outweighed by the substantial costs. In the Company's Annual
Report for the year ended September 28, 2008, the Company's auditors expressed
substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern
because the Company has suffered recurring losses from operations and has a
working capital deficiency. Delisting from The Nasdaq Stock Market is part of
the Company's cost reduction plan and will help the Company conserve working
capital.
Further, the Company received a Staff Deficiency Letter from The Nasdaq
Stock Market on January 15, 2009. In the Staff Deficiency Letter, the Nasdaq
Staff stated that the Company does not comply with Marketplace Rule
4310(c)(3), which requires the Company to have a minimum of $2,500,000 in
stockholders' equity or $35,000,000 market value of listed securities or
$500,000 of net income from continuing operations for the most recently
completed fiscal year or two of the three most recently completed fiscal
years. In its letter, Nasdaq staff requested that the Company provide, on or
before January 30, 2009, a plan to achieve and sustain compliance with all of
The Nasdaq Capital Market listing requirements. The Company is also delisting
because it believes that it would face substantial difficulty in achieving and
maintaining compliance with the requirements for continued listing with The
Nasdaq Stock Market.
The Company expects that it will file a Form 25 with the Securities and
Exchange Commission relating to the delisting of its common stock on or about
February 2, 2009, with the delisting of its common stock taking effect no
earlier than ten days thereafter. Accordingly, the Company expects that the
last day of trading of its common stock on The Nasdaq Stock Market will be on
or about February 11, 2009.
The Company is considering whether to pursue quotation of its common stock
on the OTC Bulletin Board following delisting from The Nasdaq Stock Market.
About STEN Corporation
STEN Corporation and subsidiaries, headquartered in Minnesota, is a
diversified business, primarily focused on its financing business and buy-here
pay-here vehicle sales business through STEN Financial Corporation. The
Company's Stencor business is a contract manufacturing business and
distribution business. In addition to manufacturing medical and industrial
products, the company manufactures and distributes ZERO BUG ZONE(TM) an
environmentally-friendly pest-eliminator and Stencor also distributes Liquid
Filter(TM) a unique product which enhances indoor air quality. These products
are available at http://www.stencorporation.com. STEN Corporation common stock
is traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol STEN. More information
about STEN Corporation is available at the Company's website:
http://www.stencorporation.com.
Warning Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Any statements contained in this press release that are
not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking
statements. Without limiting the foregoing, words such as "may," "will,"
"expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate" or "continue" or comparable
terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward
looking statements include, for example, statements about timing or process
for delisting of the Company's common stock from The Nasdaq Stock Market and
statements about quotation of the Company's common stock on the OTC Bulletin
Board. The statements made by the Company are based upon management's current
expectations and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could
cause the actual results to differ materially from those described in the
forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include market
conditions and other factors beyond the Company's control and the risk factors
and other cautionary statements described in the Company's Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended September 28, 2008 and other documents filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE STEN Corporation