Hoku Corp. (HOKUQ)

[sludgehound]

CEO Paul to resign, Hoku Solar may be sold

http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/news/2012/06/15/hoku-corp-ceo-scott-paul-to-resign.html?ana=yfcpc

Is this the AH news you refer to? Seemed hit NY time 5:02p
All I see is a 2K at .17 .148x.17 and a flash bookkeeping one for .17 at 9pm that is .148x.17

CEO Scott Paul to resign, Hoku Solar may be sold

Pacific Business News by Duane Shimogawa, Reporter
Date: Friday, June 15, 2012, 11:34am HST - Last Modified: Friday, June 15, 2012, 3:02pm HST

Hoku Corp. said on Friday that CEO Scott Paul will resign June 30 as the troubled company’s board works to restructure its liabilities and explores selling its profitable solar division.

When asked by PBN on Friday whether the company will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a company representative said it is one of the many options that is being considered as part of its restructuring efforts. Hoku is working with Imperial Capital on that process.

By restructuring its liabilities, it means that the Honolulu-based business is “trying to reduce or renegotiate its debts and improve its liquidity so that it can position the company for long-term success.”

According to the most recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Hoku Corp.’s non-current assets were $636 million. It has not yet filed first-quarter financials with the SEC.

The company’s board of directors has formed a five-member committee to oversee and direct the solar energy products and services company’s efforts to restructure its liabilities.

Paul, an executive officer of Hoku Corp. since 2003 and the company’s CEO since 2010, will resign as CEO on June 30 and continue as a director and chairman of the newly formed restructuring committee.

“As of July 1, Scott [Paul] will no longer be an employee of the company; he will be a non-employee director,” the company representative said in an email. “He is pleased to serve on the board, and he has no plans to resign as a director after the restructuring.”

“Jeremy” Xiaoming Yin, Hoku Corp. president since early 2011, will begin reporting directly to the board of directors as the acting CEO.

Hoku Corp. also said Friday that it is exploring opportunities to sell Hoku Solar Inc., the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary that markets and installs turnkey photovoltaic systems and provides related services in Hawaii.

The Honolulu-based photovoltaic installation company, which operates as a stand-alone business unit, had revenue of $1.89 million in 2008 and $4.95 million in 2009, according to SEC filings. Sales dipped to $2.6 million in 2010, but climbed back to $3.62 million last year.

The possibility of a sale is a dramatic change from what Paul told PBN just a couple of weeks ago. He said that because Hoku Corp. saw the photovoltaic installer’s growth potential, Hoku Solar would be left out of any restructurings that may happen to the parent company.

Additionally, Hoku Corp. faces the prospect of its stock being delisted by the Nasdaq Stock Market next month for failure to meet minimum trading requirements. On Friday, Hoku shares closed at 16 cents, which was up about 3 percent from the previous day’s close.

Hoku Corp. announced in late May that it had halted construction at its Idaho polysilicon plant a month earlier and laid off 100 employees there as it explored “restructuring alternatives.”

China’s Tianwei New Energy Holdings Co., Ltd is Hoku Corp.’s largest stockholder and creditor.

“That hasn’t changed,” the company representative said. “The outcome of the restructuring could result in a change of ownership of Hoku.”