AYALA-LED Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. (IMI) on Thursday said that a Germany-based subsidiary was planning to pull out its American Depositary Shares (ADS) from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
In a disclosure, IMI said its subsidiary Via optronics AG (VIA) intended to cancel its registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and voluntarily delist its ADS — US dollar-denominated equity shares trading in the US market.
The delisting and the deregistration were said to be "more economical," given the low liquidity of VIA's ADS and the "high costs of maintaining the NYSE listing and US SEC registration on an annual basis."
The move is expected to enable the subsidiary to earmark resources "more efficiently to execute its current business strategy," the Ayala-led firm said, noting that the last day of trading for ADS on NYSE is targeted for April 29, 2024.
"The process for delisting from the NYSE, suspending US SEC reporting obligations, and terminating the ADS program is expected to take time, require filings and notifications, and [require] compliance with certain requirements," it added.
"As such, VIA cannot provide assurances yet as to whether or when these actions will be consummated."
This came after the NYSE notified the subsidiary regarding its failure to comply with the continued listing standards.
Earlier this month, IMI reported that it suffered a net loss of $109.2 million (about P6.2 billion) in 2023, roughly 16 times the $6.8 million (about P383.4 million) net loss incurred a year earlier.
The company blamed the results on one-time losses of $106.1 million (approximately P5.98 billion) related to the sale of its stake in STI Enterprises Ltd. and impairment of goodwill and certain assets.
Total group revenues declined by 6 percent year on year to $1.3 billion (about P73.3 billion), fueled by factors attributable to its non-wholly owned subsidiary group, which includes the shorter year of STI.
IMI's share price dipped by 3 centavos, or 1.5 percent, to close at P1.97 on Thursday.