Decorize Inc. has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to deregister its common stock and discontinue public reporting.
The Springfield-based home-furnishings maker filed Form 15 with the SEC and plans to immediately cease filing any reports, including forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, the company said in a news release today. The move comes nearly two years after Decorize chose to delist from the American Stock Exchange; the company had been a voluntary filer until now, with fewer than 300 shareholders of record.
Decorize's decision to delist was based largely on increased reporting costs resulting from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which created new oversight regulations for public companies after major scandals at companies such as Enron and WorldCom. Decorize officials expected those costs to rise dramatically again in 2009, according to the release.
"Our board of directors decided to take this action after weighing the costs and benefits to Decorize of being a reporting company," CEO Steve Crowder said in the release. "We believe that the company and its owners are better served if we can redirect those costs toward the expansion of our core home furnishings business, rather than spending the money and resources required to remain a public reporting company."
Other factors in the decision included a "historically thin market for the company's shares," a lack of significant analyst coverage for its common stock and a need for company management to focus attention on operations, the release said.
Decorize said it will notify the OTC Bulletin Board of its decision and, as a result, its common stock will no longer be quoted on the OTCBB. The company expects it will be quoted on Pink Sheets, a centralized electronic quotation service for over-the-counter securities, "for so long as market makers demonstrate an interest in trading the common stock." Pink Sheets publishes market maker quotes in real time primarily on its Web site, www.pinksheets.com.
Also today, Decorize reported $156,000 in operating income for the six months ended Dec. 31, compared to an operating loss of $281,000 in the same period in 2007. The company's gross margin was 39.5 percent for the period, up from 31.1 percent in 2007.
Company shares (OTCBB: DCZI.OB) last traded Tuesday at 4 cents. The 52-week range is 2 cents to 25 cents.
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