StockerYale nears Nasdaq compliance

StockerYale will soon be back in compliance with Nasdaq rules, the company announced late last week.

In November, the Nasdaq exchange warned that it could delist the Salem-based manufacture of photonic products if it didn’t maintain $10 million in stockholders’ equity. Last week, StockerYale got an extension until Jan. 19, when it expects to file an audited statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which would include the company’s acquisition of Photonic Products.

Nasdaq has issued StockerYale two other delisting notices in the past two years, but both of those notices related to the company’s difficulty in maintaining a stock price of more than $1. In both cases, the company was able to return to compliance.

The company has been struggling since 2004, when the SEC launched an investigation involving Chief Executive Officer Mark Blodgett and allegations that the company’s stock price was manipulated and whether insider information was used in the preparation of some misleading press releases.

Blodgett, who is still CEO, settled the matter by paying some $900,000, but there is still an open shareholders suit on the matter, which is scheduled to go to trial in November 2008. – BOB SANDERS