Exchange officials made the decision to delist the company based on Impac's failure to maintain levels of shareholder equity required in order for it to remain on NYSE American — a marketplace for publicly traded small cap companies. The Newport Beach, California-lender said it would not contest the action.
Impac received
Impac was required to have at least $2 million of stockholder equity after posting net losses in two of the prior three fiscal years, with higher amounts for longer periods of negative income. The company reported net losses in each of the last five annual fiscal periods.
The company, instead, posted a shareholder deficit of $11.6 million at the close of the fourth quarter 2022. In the company's most recent earnings call, Impac leaders also said it had reduced staff headcount from 330 to 80 since the end of 2021.
The NYSE American decided to act against Impac prior to the original February 2024 deadline "since the company informed the exchange that it cannot demonstrate an ability to return to compliance within 18 months of notice from the exchange."
No response to a request for comment from the company was received prior to publication, but in a press release Impac stated "delisting is appropriate" based on financial conditions.
In the last five years, the closing price of Impac Holdings stock, which traded under the ticker symbol IMH, ranged from a high of $10.33 in mid June 2018 to a low of 15 cents in late December 2022. Equity value at the end of Wednesday finished at 22 cents per share.
Impac began trading on what was then called the American Stock Exchange in late 2009, with a high closing value of $28.50, which it reached in May 2015. It moved to that board after being delisted from the NYSE during the housing crisis.
With its removal from the NYSE American, Impac said it expected its securities to move to the over-the-counter Pink Open Market, listed under the symbol IMPM. The exchange is typically reserved for the lowest and most speculative tier of OTC trading.
The series of events at Impac are the latest developments in a prolonged period of turbulence marked by various shifts in business strategy, as the company struggled to become profitable even during the mortgage boom of 2020 and 2021.
Established in 1995, the company was known as a non-prime lender through third-party channels. After surviving the housing crisis, it acquired consumer-direct lender CashCall Mortgage in 2015. It later pivoted toward a non-QM focus at the end of the decade. But pandemic-related secondary market investor pullbacks forced it to temporarily suspend all originations. When activities resumed, it first concentrated on conforming-loan production through its call center before resuming non-QM in both retail and wholesale.
Last month, though,
