By Dipo Olowookere
Shareholders and prospective investors interested in trading in Ardova shares on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited can now begin to do so without any restriction.
This is because the embargo earlier placed on the trading in the company’s securities has been removed by the regulatory agency of the domestic stock exchange, the NGX Regulation Limited.
On July 1, 2022, the bourse announced the suspension of the trading of Ardova stocks and others over their failure to file their audited financial statements for the 2021 accounting year.
Last week, the energy firm submitted the results, though it was abysmal as it posted a N3.9 billion loss in the year compared with the profit of N1.9 billion it reported in the preceding fiscal year.
After filing the results, the NGX announced that shareholders can now buy and sell the company’s equities on its platform from Thursday, July 7, 2022, and at the close of transactions that day, the value remained unchanged at N13.05 per unit and the next day, it also closed flat, with the trading volume going down to 475,163 units from the preceding session’s 1,108,953 units.
“We refer to our Market Bulletin dated 1 July 2022 with Reference Number: NGXREG/LRD/MB37/22/07/01 wherein we notified trading license holders and the investing public of the suspension of nine listed companies for non-compliance with the provisions of Rule 3.1: Rules for Filing of Accounts and Treatment of Default Filing, Rulebook of the exchange (Issuers’ Rules) (Default Filing Rules), which provides that: If an Issuer fails to file the relevant accounts by the expiration of the cure period, the exchange will: a. send to the issuer a second filing deficiency notification within two business days after the end of the cure period; b. suspend trading in the issuer’s securities; and c. notify the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the market within 24 hours of the suspension.
“Ardova Plc, one of the nine listed companies that were suspended on July 1, 2022, has now filed its Audited Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2021, and Unaudited Financial Statements for the quarter ended March 31, 2022.
“In view of the company’s submission of these financial statements, and pursuant to Rule 3.3 of the Default Filing Rules, which states that; the suspension of trading in the issuer’s securities shall be lifted upon submission of the relevant accounts provided the exchange is satisfied that the accounts comply with all applicable rules of the exchange. The exchange shall thereafter also announce through the medium by which the public and the SEC was initially notified of the suspension, that the suspension has been lifted, trading licence holders and the investing public are hereby notified that the suspension placed on trading on the shares of Ardova Plc was lifted on July 7, 2022,” the notice from the bourse stated.
Adedapo Adesanya