CHICAGO (Reuters) - Pilgrim's Pride Corp's shares fell below $1 on Thursday, a day after a research report said there was a high probability the chicken producer would file for bankruptcy protection in December.
Pilgrim's Pride shares traded as low as 83 cents per share on the small-cap Arca platform after the stock was halted on the New York Stock Exchange. In afternoon trading, they were down 26.18 percent at 93 cents. On August 15, the shares reached a high for the day of $18.16.
Independent research firm CreditSights said on Wednesday "a bankruptcy scenario now seems highly probable" at the end of a 30-day grace period on Pilgrim's bond interest payments in December.
"It is trading electronically. That change will be invisible to the average investor," Pilgrim's Pride spokesman Ray Atkinson said of the switch to Arca.
Atkinson said on Wednesday the company was still working to improve operations and that it believed filing for Chapter 11 protection was not "in anyone's best interest."
Pilgrim's Pride is the largest U.S. chicken producer, but investors have slammed its shares as the company struggles to return to profitability. It has been hurt this year by high feed costs, low meat prices, debt obligations, and losses on grain hedges.
Twice this fall it was granted waivers so it would not violate credit covenants on its debt. The company has lost money for nearly a year and has forecast a loss for its fiscal quarter that ended in September.
Pilgrim's also said it would exercise a 30-day grace period on a $25.7 million interest payment on its senior notes due November 3.
(Reporting by Bob Burgdorfer, Editing by Toni Reinhold
