Companies sometimes have to undertake a reverse stock split to avoid being delisted from the exchange they are traded on. Most smaller companies are listed on the NASDAQ exchange, and the NASDAQ has a $1 minimum price.
If the objective was the raise PPS to over the $1 minimum required by NASDAQ, then wouldn't it have made sense to choose a reverse split ratio that would have actually moved the PPS to over $1/share instead of less than $1/share?