All is not well at Walter Energy, Inc. (OTCMKTS:WLTG) the New York Stock Exchange having initiated proceedings that will result in the delisting of the stock from the market. The stock has already been suspended as it continues to trade at abnormally low prices with reports indicating that the company is leaning more towards bankruptcy. The stock was last trading at lows of $0.09 a share with the exchange requiring stocks maintain an average of $1 a share over a period of 30 days.
Financial Mess
In March, Walter Energy, Inc. (OTCMKTS:WLTG) was notified that it needed to bring its share price up or be delisted from the exchange. The company finds itself in a financial mess having failed to generate profits since 2011, something that has hurt its sentiments on the Street.
Walter Energy’s woes are reflections of a change of fortunes in the larger coal industry with most companies initiating cost cutting measures that have seen hundreds of workers lose their jobs. Excess supply and slowing demand in China has been the biggest undoing for the industry.
The company’s senior lenders are reportedly pushing the company to slash its worker pay as well as reduce pension expenses and idle plants as part of an ongoing plan to file for bankruptcy. Some of the big creditors that Walter Energy owes huge sums of money include Apollo Global Management LLC, Blackstone Group LP and Fidelity investments.
Bankruptcy Proceedings
Walter Energy, Inc. (OTCMKTS:WLTG) and the creditors group have so far been unable to structure the bankruptcy plan. Creditors are seeking a number of cuts in the company in exchange for a restructuring plan in the bankruptcy court.
There have been reports that owners of Walter Energy, Inc. (OTCMKTS:WLTG)’s first-line bonds and loan owners want to take ownership of the company as part of the restructuring plan. The company’s debt currently stands at $3.1 billion attributed to the worst downturn in the coal business in the recent years.
