Jun. 22--The bad news keeps coming for American Skiing Co. 

A few weeks ago the crumbling ski resort giant announced it would sell its flagship Steamboat ski area in a major overhaul. Last week, the company announced its third-quarter earnings had dwindled more than 50 percent from a year ago. 

And this week, its stock price dipped below a dollar, capping a 3 1/2-year slide from its initial public offering of $18 a share in late 1997. 

It's difficult to find good news coming out of American Skiing. In fact, it's difficult to find analysts who watch the company. 

"We just dropped coverage," said Glen Reid, an analyst with Bear Stearns & Co., who keeps tabs on the ski industry. "The institutional investor interest just didn't warrant the time it took." 

Several other investors who once followed American Skiing echoed Reid. That's probably good news for American Skiing, which is busy making deep spending cuts, job cuts and the selling of its prized Steamboat. 

Steamboat had more than 1 million skier visits in 2000-2001, as it has for the past 12 seasons. But the 1,003,000 skier visits come in as one of Steamboat's worst seasons on record. 

In a conference call last week announcing third-quarter earnings, the company's leaders hinted at an impending infusion of cash that would provide a lifeline while the company cleans its countrywide operation. 

That infusion will dilute the value of the company's stock even more, said Phelps Hoyt, an analyst who watches American Skiing's bevy of high-yield bonds. 

"The steps that the company are taking right now are designed to keep the company out of bankruptcy," said Hoyt, an analyst with KDP Investments in Vermont. "I don't have any idea what American is planning to do. But when a company comes out and says there could be substantial dilution of its stock value, it will be really tough for the stock to go up even after all the plans like selling Steamboat are worked out." 

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(c) 2001, The Denver Post. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. SKI,