OptimumBank in Florida Escapes Nasdaq Delisting

OptimumBank Holdings (OPHC) in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., can keep listing its shares on the Nasdaq now that a reverse stock split has brought the stock above the exchange's minimum price.

The $136 million-asset bank said Wednesday that it is back in compliance with the Nasdaq's minimum-bid listing rules, which require a company's stock to trade above $1 per share. Nasdaq told the company on June 17 that it had returned to compliance; the exchange had warned OptimumBank a year ago that its share price was too low.

OptimumBank underwent a one-for-four reverse stock split last month to push its stock price above the threshold. Its share price was $1.52 before trading began Thursday.

"This is a positive development for the company and our shareholders and is in line with our desire to remain a public company," said Chairman Moishe Gubin in a press release. "As a public firm we may more easily use our shares as future merger and acquisition currency."

In March 2012, OptimumBank briefly became one of the Nasdaq's most-traded stocks, and saw its price rise by more than 450% in one week as nearly 1.7 million shares changed hands. The company was "not aware of any material developments which could account for the recent unusual trading activity," President Richard Browdy said in a press release at the time.