First Place at risk over bid requirement

August 31, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

WARREN

On the eve of the deadline to submit its debt and cash-flow restructuring documents to the Office of the Comptroller, First Place Financial Corp. once again is under fire from the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Nasdaq has placed yet another restriction on the Warren-based corporation, this time regarding its stock price, which has not topped $1 per share for the past 30 business days.

That violates Nasdaq’s minimum-bid price required for continued listing. First Place — which today faces a deadline to submit documents regarding loan allowances and cash flow to the Office of the Comptroller (formerly the Office of Thrift Supervision) after its consent to a cease-and-desist order in July — will continue to appear on the Nasdaq.

But First Place must maintain a closing-bid price of at least $1 per share for at least 10 consecutive business days sometime before Feb. 12, 2012.

Shares of First Place stock rose 2 cents Tuesday and closed at 73 cents per share. It had traded as low as 55 cents per share Aug. 19.

July 13 was the last time First Place shares met the minimum bid requirement; that day, shares closed at $1 each.

Stephen Lewis, president and CEO of First Place, said the company believes its recent dealings with Nasdaq have “adversely impacted” stock prices.

The Nasdaq Office of General Counsel on July 26 granted the corporation, whose subsidiary is First Place Bank, an extension to submit its delinquent quarterly filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“We are making progress on our restatement, and we look forward to getting our financial statements completed and filed, thus removing the uncertainty regarding our financial condition,” Lewis said in a news release.

If First Place does not file by Nov. 10, Nasdaq will delist the company’s shares, which first appeared on the open market Jan. 4, 1999.

First Place officials did not respond immediately to further request for a comment.