Wheels Up Skirts Stock Delisting with Reverse Share Split

The directors of private flight membership company Wheels Up have authorized a one-for-10 reverse stock split to stave off a possible delisting on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Wheels Up stock has traded for less than $1 per share for most of the year and the company had a limited amount of time to increase its valuation prior to delisting. The split will take effect after the close of trading on June 7.

Wheels Up stock recently closed at 26 cents, down 8 percent on the day, 75 percent year-to-date, and 97 percent since its 2021 initial public listing. The company reported a net loss of $555 million on $1.58 billion in revenues last year. In 2022, Wheels Up replaced its CFO and COO and eliminated the position of president. Last month, company founder and CEO Kenny Dichter resigned. 

In the first quarter, Wheels Up burned through $222 million of its cash reserves, leaving $363 million on hand despite being engaged in a $30 million cost-cutting campaign. If its cash position falls below $125 million, it will be in violation of financing covenants in place on a substantial part of its owned aircraft fleet that was mortgaged last year at an interest rate of 12 percent.

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Meanwhile, the company is in the process of moving its operations center to Atlanta, refocusing its operations on regional East and West Coast markets. It is also offering lower aircraft hourly rates and minimums in an attempt to retain customers, attract new customers, and cut operating losses.

Wheels Up is the defendant in a class-action stockholder suit alleging fraud and misrepresentation relating to the company’s financial filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Earlier this year, Wheels Up admitted to “material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting” that “could result in material misstatements of our financial statements or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations.”