NYSE to suspend trading in RadioShack

Kaja Whitehouse | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Radioshack faces delisting and possible fire sale of store locations The New York Stock Exchange is moving to delist Radioshack.....It's today's chart of the day. Now Radioshack forecasted it may file for bankruptcy as soon as yesterday, but Monday came and went the struggling electronics retailer is still here.

The New York Stock Exchange on Monday said it will "immediately suspend trading" in shares of beleaguered electronics retailer RadioShack, which is in talks with lenders about a potential bankruptcy filing.

Shares plummeted 41% on the news to 14 cents a share in the after-hours market, from 24 cents at the close.

RadioShack, which has been undermined by the rise of electronics sales online, is in talks with creditors about a potential bankruptcy filing, said an investor source with direct knowledge of the talks who was not authorized to speak on the record.

As part of the plan, wireless provider Sprint is in talks to buy up to half the leases for RadioShack's retail stores as the 94-year-old electronics company prepares for bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg News.

RadioShack, which operates roughly 4,300 stores in North America, would close the stores Sprint does not take, Bloomberg said, citing unnamed sources.

The bankruptcy talks come a few months after RadioShack warned of bankruptcy amid a cash crunch and financial losses for the last 11 quarters.

In September, RadioShack said that it "may not have enough cash and working capital to fund our operations beyond the very near term — and that it could "seek to implement an in-court proceeding under Chapter 11" as a result.

In October, the Fort Worth, Texas, company received rescue financing from a group of investors, led by hedge fund Standard General, to keep operations going through the holiday shopping season.

But the financial problems continue to plague the retailer.

On Jan. 22, RadioShack warned that it had received notice that it faced delisting because the average market capitalization of the company had fallen to less than $50 million for 30 consecutive trading days.

The NYSE on Monday said it is only taking action to delist RadioShack after the company said it would not submit a business plan to address its noncompliance, which may otherwise have bought it extra time as a publicly traded company.

The stock closed down Monday 13.3% to 24 cents a share.

A spokesman for Sprint declined to comment, as did RadioShack. Standard General and Salus Capital also did not return requests for comment.