iMedia, parent company of ShopHQ, delays earnings while grappling with potential Nasdaq delisting

Three times in three weeks, Eden Prairie-based iMedia Brands postponed releasing its end-of-year earnings as the company is on the verge of delisting from the Nasdaq stock exchange.

After a year of challenges, iMedia — the parent company of shopping network ShopHQ and retailer Christopher & Banks — plans to sell several properties, including its Eden Prairie headquarters and television studios, in a series of sale-leaseback deals aimed to eliminate a large chunk of the company's debt.

Executives at the company have repeatedly delayed iMedia's earnings announcements, originally scheduled for March 22, until they are able to close the sales with the fate of the business likely hinging on the transactions.

"We appreciate our investors and other stakeholders' patience with us over these past several weeks, and I personally apologize for this delay," said CEO Tim Peterman, in a statement this past weekend after pushing the earnings announcement from Monday to Wednesday morning. "We are in the final stages of completing five financing transactions that we intend to close simultaneously. When completed, these transactions will materially decrease our outstanding debt and improve our credit profile as a company."

Peterman said he expected the transactions, which he didn't detail, to close Monday or Tuesday. The company has produced no further updates on that. But according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last week, the company appointed James Alt to serve as chief transformation officer and added two more people to its now 10-member board of directors.

Wednesday is also iMedia's deadline to file a plan to correct the company's share price or possibly file for another extension. In October, the Nasdaq stock market informed the company it was out of compliance with the minimum $1 bid price requirement. It had 180 days from the first notice to re-comply. If the stock price is still below $1, iMedia can apply for a 180-day extension.

The earlier estimated more than $40 million sale of three of iMedia's four buildings — its offices and studio in Eden Prairie and its Kentucky warehouse — comes at a critical time for the media company, which has struggled to turn a profit for years.

Last year, it experienced a range of issues including a broadcasting dispute with satellite-TV Dish Network that resulted in a six-month blackout of its channels. The company also had to come up with a $10 million write-off to end its kitchenware licensing agreement with basketball star Shaquille O'Neal. Consumers have also cut back on discretionary purchases, which has affected retailers far and wide but has hit the home-shopping market especially hard.

The most recent profit iMedia posted — and the first time since 2017 — was in summer 2020, earning a net gain of $1.1 million during its second quarter when the onset of the pandemic spurred a spike in entertainment and other discretionary spending. Earlier in 2020, iMedia cut about 300 jobs because of the pandemic.

In its most recent third-quarter report, iMedia lost $21.3 million.

While investors usually view delays as a bad sign, Eric Wold — a senior analyst with B. Riley Securities who covers media, entertainment and outdoor leisure — said the push was necessary.

"We feel this may almost be mandatory if it provides management with the time needed to complete the sale-leaseback transaction," Wold wrote in a note to clients in late March.

Wold said Tuesday that even with the several delays, he still agrees with his earlier assessment.