Stock Plunge Delays Offering of Shares by 2 San Diego Firms
The stock market crash has caused two San Diego area companies, Chart House Enterprises and Spectragraphics Corp., to postpone indefinitely initial public stock offerings that were to have begun this week.
Chart House, a Solana Beach-based operator of 54 Chart House seafood restaurants in 17 states; 15 Paradise bakeries in California, Colorado, Hawaii and Texas, and 16 Luther’s Bar-B-Qs in Texas, had planned to sell 3.5 million shares priced from $12 to $14 each.
A spokeswoman for First Boston Corp., which with Montgomery Securities is co-underwriting Chart House’s offering, said Tuesday that the soonest the offering could take place would be next week, “depending on market conditions.”
Chart House posted a profit of $1.7 million on revenues of $114 million for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31. James Creed, chairman and chief executive, was unavailable for comment Tuesday.
Spectragraphics, a Miramar-based manufacturer of computer terminals used in computer-aided design and manufacturing applications, had planned to offer 1,538,462 shares priced from $9 to $11 each.
Spectragraphics Chairman Robert Blumberg said his company’s offering has been “deferred” indefinitely until the stock market settles down. Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette is lead underwriter of the offering.
“Investors are worried about what they already own,” Blumberg said of the current climate. “They don’t want to hear about anything new.”
Spectragraphics posted a net loss of $1.3 million on sales of $17.4 million for its fiscal year ended Dec. 31.
