Millbrook Press, which has struggled for several years to reach profitabilty, is deregistering its stock, which has traded on the Nasdaq SmallCap market. Company president David Allen said the costs involved in meeting SEC reporting requirements and limited investor interest were the two major factors behind the deregistration. The company's stock stopped trading October 29, at 70 cents per share. Once deregistration is final, Millbrook will no longer be required to make quarterly reports to the SEC.
In its last quarterly filing, Millbrook reported sales for the nine-month period ended April 30, 2003, of $9.3 million and a net loss of $3.7 million, compared to sales of $14.3 million and a $280,000 net loss in the same period in fiscal 2002. The company's results have been hurt by a decline in spending by schools and libraries. In March, Millbrook began a reorganization that will increase its presence in the trade market, a move dictated by the strength of its Roaring Brook imprint, whose My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann won the 2003 Caldecott Award.
The company said the deregistration will not affect its business model.
