Indiana furniture maker to exit stock exchange

The board of directors of Chromcraft Revington Inc., a West Lafayette-based designer and manufacturer of furniture, has decided to delist the firm’s common stock from the New York Stock Exchange, in a move to reduce costs related to being a public company.

The company intends to file the delisting request with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 18, according to a release from the firm on Monday. Later in the month, it will file to suspend reporting obligations.

Shares in Chromcraft are thinly traded, as the firm has fewer than 300 shareholders of record. The stock’s average daily trading volume is just over 7,000 shares, and its market capitalization was about $3.2 million as of Tuesday morning.

“These actions are designed to reduce our operating costs,” said Ronald Butler, the company’s chairman and CEO. “The consequences of remaining an SEC-reporting company, which includes significant costs and management time associated with regulatory compliance, outweighed the current benefits of being a [New York Stock Exchange] company.”

The firm’s most recent annual report has been delayed due to the workload shouldered by the firm’s financial staff. On April 1, the company explained the delay to the SEC by noting that negotiations with a lender “have been ongoing and extensive, and have required [the company] to devote key personnel and administrative resources to these matters.”

The announcement to delist appeared to spark a flurry of trading on Tuesday. Shares had declined nearly 25 percent in value to 49 cents per share in early trading.

The firm still intends to provide quarterly and annual information about its financial performance through press releases and postings to its website, according to company officials.