MoviePass' parent company has been kicked off the Nasdaq, but claims it 'has no effect on the day-to-day business'

MoviePass/Reuters

(L-R) MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe and Helios and Matheson Chief Executive Ted Farnsworth.

• Helios and Matheson Analytics (HMNY), the parent company of MoviePass, has been kicked off the Nasdaq, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.
• The company had failed to meet the listing standards by trading below $1 per share since July.
• "HMNY's delisting has no effect on the day-to-day business operations of HMNY or its subsidiaries, including MoviePass and MoviePass Films," the company said in a statement.

Helios and Matheson Analytics, the parent company of movie-ticket subscription company MoviePass, has been kicked off the Nasdaq, it disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. It will now trade over the counter under the same ticker, HMNY.

Helios had failed to meet the Nasdaq's listing standards by trading under $1 per share since July. In December, the Nasdaq sent Helios a warning that the company would delisted, but Helios appealed the decision.

The effort failed.

"The Company timely appealed the delisting notice and appeared in front of the Panel on January 31, 2019," Helios wrote in the filing. "The Panel issued a decision on February 11, 2019, and determined to delist the Company's common stock from The Nasdaq Capital Market. The suspension of trading in the Company's common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market will be effective at the open of business on February 13, 2019."

Helios raised its profile in the summer of 2017 when it acquired MoviePass and lowered the service's monthly subscription price to $9.95 a month to see one movie in theaters per day. The move led to million of new subscribers, but also hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

"HMNY's delisting has no effect on the day-to-day business operations of HMNY or its subsidiaries, including MoviePass and MoviePass Films," the company said in a statement.

But Helios has primarily used the selling of billions of new shares to cover its losses. As it did so, its stock fell over 99% in value.

Read more: A MoviePass product manager resigned and blasted its leadership in a scathing letter to all staff

In January, Helios announced that it had sent a registration statement to the SEC to make MoviePass a separate public company. In a statement, Helios said that effort would continue.

"HMNY will consider applying to be listed on an exchange again should it meet the applicable listing criteria in the future," the company said.

Helios had a complicated history as a Nasdaq-listed company before getting kicked off.

Before the MoviePass era, the New York outpost of Helios and Matheson was controlled by an Indian company (Helios and Matheson Information Technology), which stands accused of defrauding at least 5,000 creditors in India, including banks and senior citizens.

Here is Helios' full statement:

"HMNY's delisting has no effect on the day-to-day business operations of HMNY or its subsidiaries, including MoviePass and MoviePass Films. HMNY expects that its common stock will begin trading on the over-the-counter market on Wednesday, February 13, 2019. HMNY will consider applying to be listed on an exchange again should it meet the applicable listing criteria in the future. In the meantime, HMNY is proceeding with its planning efforts to effectuate a partial spin-off of MoviePass Entertainment Holdings Inc. ("MoviePass Entertainment"), which would take ownership of HMNY's film industry related assets, including its shares of MoviePass Inc., membership interest in MoviePass Films and MoviePass Ventures and the Moviefone entertainment information service. The spin-off remains subject to numerous conditions, as previously described in HMNY's SEC filings."