Lee Enterprises Receives Notification from Nasdaq Related to Delayed Annual Report on Form 10-K
December 29 2022 - 5:45PM
Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NASDAQ: LEE), a digital-first
subscription platform providing high quality, trusted, local news,
information and a major platform for advertising in 77 markets, has
received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of The
Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) indicating that, as a result of
the Company’s delay in filing its Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the fiscal year ended September 25, 2022 (the “2022 Form 10-K”)
within the prescribed time period, the Company is not in compliance
with the timely filing requirement for continued listing under
Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1).
This notification has no immediate effect on the
listing or trading of the Company's common stock on The Nasdaq
Capital Market. Lee must submit to Nasdaq a plan of compliance (the
“Plan”) within 60 days, or no later than February 27, 2023,
addressing how it intends to regain compliance with the Nasdaq
Listing Rule. If Nasdaq accepts the Plan, it may grant an extension
of up to 180 days from the original filing due date of the 2022
Form 10-K, or until June 26, 2023, to regain compliance. If the
Company fails to regain compliance with the Nasdaq Listing Rule
within the time periods described above, the Company's common stock
could be subject to delisting from Nasdaq.
On December 12, 2022, Lee disclosed that it
required additional time to file its fiscal 2022 Form 10-K for the
period ended September 25, 2022. The Company is working diligently
to complete the internal controls evaluation described in its Form
8-K filing on December 12 and file its 10-K for fiscal 2022. Lee
expects to file the 2022 Form 10-K within the 60-day period
described above, which would eliminate the need for the Company to
submit a formal plan to regain compliance with the Nasdaq Listing
Rule. However, no assurance can be given as to the definitive date
on which the 2022 Form 10-K will be filed.
Notwithstanding the ongoing nature of its
internal controls evaluation, the Company does not expect the
evaluation to result in any material impact on the preliminary
financial results the Company released on December 8, 2022 for the
12-month period as of and ended September 25, 2022.
Forward-Looking Statements
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995 provides a “safe harbor” for forward-looking statements. This
release contains information that may be deemed forward-looking
that is based largely on our current expectations, and is subject
to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those anticipated. Among such
risks, trends and other uncertainties, which in some instances are
beyond our control, are:
- The overall impact the COVID-19
pandemic has on the Company's revenues and costs;
- The long-term or permanent changes
the COVID-19 pandemic may have on the publishing industry, which
may result in permanent revenue reductions and other risks and
uncertainties;
- We may be required to indemnify the
previous owners of the BH Media or the Buffalo News for
unknown legal and other matters that may arise;
- Our ability to manage declining
print revenue and circulation subscribers;
- The impact and duration of adverse
conditions in certain aspects of the economy affecting our
business;
- Changes in advertising and
subscription demand;
- Changes in technology that impact
our ability to deliver digital advertising;
- Potential changes in newsprint,
other commodities and energy costs;
- Interest rates;
- Labor costs;
- Significant cyber security breaches
or failure of our information technology systems;
- Our ability to achieve planned
expense reductions and realize the expected benefit of our
acquisitions;
- Our ability to maintain employee
and customer relationships;
- Our ability to manage increased
capital costs;
- Our ability to maintain our listing
status on NASDAQ;
- Competition; and
- Other risks detailed from time to
time in our publicly filed documents.
Any statements that are not statements of
historical fact (including statements containing the words "aim",
“may”, “will”, “would”, “could”, “believes”, “expects”,
“anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “projects”, “considers” and
similar expressions) generally should be considered forward-looking
statements. Statements regarding our plans, strategies, prospects
and expectations regarding our business and industry, including
statements regarding the impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic and our
responses thereto may have on our future operations, are
forward-looking statements. They reflect our expectations, are not
guarantees of performance and speak only as of the date the
statement is made. Readers are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are made as of
the date of this release. We do not undertake to publicly update or
revise our forward-looking statements, except as required by
law.
About LeeLee Enterprises is a
major subscription and advertising platform and a leading provider
of local news and information, with daily newspapers, rapidly
growing digital products and over 350 weekly and specialty
publications serving 77 markets in 26 states. Year to date, Lee's
newspapers have average daily circulation of 1.0 million, and our
legacy websites, including acquisitions, reach more than 38 million
digital unique visitors. Lee's markets include St. Louis, MO;
Buffalo, NY; Omaha, NE; Richmond, VA; Lincoln, NE; Madison, WI;
Davenport, IA; and Tucson, AZ. Lee Common Stock is traded on NASDAQ
under the symbol LEE. For more information about Lee, please visit
www.lee.net.
ContactIR@lee.net(563)
383-2100
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