Fuel Systems Solutions: Not A Model Company But Still Keeps Investors Interest

A few years ago, Mexico City, one of the most polluted cities in the world, declared that vehicles using liquid fuels could be curbed during pollution alerts. Those using clean-burning fuels like propane and natural gas would be exempt, and as such, Coca-Cola (KO) Mexico decided on a fuel change to keep its fleet of 6,000 delivery vehicles running uninterrupted.

Coca-Cola turned to California-based IMPCO Technologies, now an operating subsidiary of Fuel Systems Solutions Inc. (FSYS), for the devices to convert its vehicles’ engines to propane use, saving money by using cheaper propane and contributing to the reduction of pollution in Mexico City.

Fuel Systems Solutions has not been what you could call a model company, but it is orders like these that keep investors interested in the world’s leading supplier of alternative fuel systems for internal combustion engines. Even now, as the company faces delisting for the second time in three years for late reporting of its financials, the stock has been treading water around the $17 level, down from its 52-week high of $25.11 in February, giving it a market cap of about $250 million.

The company has not yet filed financial statements for the fourth quarter and full year 2006 and the first two quarters of 2007 because of a voluntary investigation into its stock option grant practices between 1996 and 2006. After the close of trading on Friday, the company said that preliminary review from this investigation indicates that the company will probably need to restate its results for the years 2001 to 2005 to account for non-cash charges with regard to stock-based compensation.

The company also said Friday that it believes it has fulfilled the requirements set by Nasdaq to submit information by last Thursday [July 26] to keep the exchange from proceeding with delisting for the late filings of financials. Nasdaq also set a deadline of September 6 for Fuel Systems to submit the late filings.

FSYS 1-year chart