Suffolk Bancorp files overdue reports
A branch of Suffolk Bancorp on West Second Street in Riverhead. The company Wednesday filed earnings reports in an effort to avoid delisting on the Nasdaq. Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan, 2011
Suffolk Bancorp said Wednesday it had filed all of its overdue earnings reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a move it believes will relieve the threat that its common stock might be delisted by the Nasdaq Stock Market.
But the Riverhead-based parent of the 30-branch Suffolk County National Bank also disclosed in the filings it is the subject of an informal inquiry by the SEC's New York regional office "to determine whether there have been violations of the federal securities laws in connection with Suffolk's financial reporting."
The SEC website says an informal inquiry involves interviewing witnesses, examining brokerage records, reviewing trading data and using other means of gathering information, and can be a prelude to a formal investigation. An agency spokesman did not return a call.
Two of the reports the bank filed late Tuesday restated prior earnings.
The company had announced Nov. 30 that delisting had been stayed by a Nasdaq Hearings Panel pending a hearing set for Jan. 19. Frank Filipo, Suffolk's executive vice president, said in an interview Wednesday the company expects Nasdaq to rescind its delisting action in light of the new filings.
He declined to discuss the SEC inquiry in any detail beyond that in Wednesday's filing.
The corporation said it had filed overdue results for the third quarter of this year, which showed a profit of $3 million, or 32 cents a share, compared with a restated loss for the period a year earlier of $3.1 million, or 32 cents a share.
Also reported were results for the quarters ended June 30, 2011, and March 31, 2011, and the restated results for the quarter ended Sept. 30 of last year and for all of last year.
"Suffolk is now current in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission," the bank said in a release. It also said, "Numerous steps have been taken to address the weaknesses in loan administration and accounting which led to these restatements."
Delisting is a blow to a company's prestige. A delisted stock can continue to trade electronically on an alternative quotation service, but such shares are considered more risky because there is less regulation of them.
Besides the SEC inquiry, the bank has said it faces three shareholder lawsuits charging that executives misrepresented its financial condition. Filipo declined to comment on the suits. Suffolk's shares closed Wednesday at $10.25, up $1.37.
