Life isn’t getting any easier for Dover Downs, Delaware’s only publicly-traded casino company, as it struggles to navigate new competition in the mid-Atlantic region without any tax relief from the state.
The company was put on notice by the New York Stock Exchange on Monday after the average closing price of its common stock had fallen below $1.00 for 30 consecutive days.
Under NYSE rules, company shares must trade above $1.00 to be eligible for listing on the exchange. Dover Downs has six months to bring its share price back above that threshold or face delisting, and its shares, which trade under the ticker symbol “DDE,” will be listed with a “.BC” suffix to indicate their current non-compliant state.
Dover Downs in a statement explained that it can regain compliant standing if its shares have an average closing price of above $1.00 over a 30-day trading period that ends on the last trading day of the month.
“We have 10 business days to notify the NYSE of our intent to cure this deficiency. We intend to so notify the NYSE on a timely basis,” the company said.
DDE shares have not traded higher than $1.50 since mid-2014.
In what has become a regular occurrence in recent years, Dover Downs incurred a net loss of $137,000 during the third quarter.
“Well, another quarterly loss I’m afraid,” remarked Denis McGlynn, chief executive officer, on his earnings call.
McGlynn and Dover Downs have been pleading with the governor and state legislature for tax relief in what is becoming a highly competitive market for gaming and entertainment in the mid-Atlantic region – even more so with Pennsylvania’s recent massive expansion of gambling.
Under the current arrangement, Delaware casinos keep just 66 percent of table game revenues and 42 percent of slot revenues after taxes and allotments to horse racing purses.
“In nine months this year, the company has paid out $56.4 million to the state and the horsemen while recording a net loss of $289,000,” McGlynn explained. “That the state’s gaming revenue sharing formula is unsustainable should be apparent to everyone.”
