By Modupe Gbadeyanka
As the market enters earnings season this month, some companies trading their shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) have announced their closed periods.
Business Post reports that a closed period is the time frame between the completion of financial statements of a company listed on the stock exchange and the release of these results to the investing public.
The period normally lasts about two months and according to the market rules, insiders, who are majorly people with sensitive information about the firm that could trigger the price of the stock at the market, are prevented from trading on the company’s share.
The reason for this is to stop any insider from using the vital information in his possession to affect the price of the stock, especially to his advantage.
On September 30, 2018, most firms listed on the NSE ended their third quarter and by the NSE rules, they should release their results on or before October 31, 2018 to the investing public.
Last week, some companies announced their closed periods as well as meeting of their boards to consider the Q3 results before releasing them to the exchange.
However, some of them will first get approvals from regulators of their various sectors, especially for banks and insurance companies, before releasing them to the NSE and the general public.
Last Friday, Access Bank informed the NSE that its board would meet on Tuesday, October 30, 2018, to consider and approve the lender’s Unaudited Financial Statements.
The financial institution also declared a “closed period in respect of transaction on its securities from October 6, 2018 to such date as will be subsequently announced in compliance with Rule 17.2 of the Amendment to the Listing Rules of the NSE.”
“Accordingly, no director, employee, person discharging managerial responsibility, adviser of the company and their connected persons may directly or indirectly, deal in the securities of the company in any manner during the closed period,” the notice said.
Also last week, Dangote Cement, another firm trading its equities on the NSE, disclosed that it has entered a closed trading period from October 4, 2018 until 24 hours after the release of its financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2018.
Dangote Cement explained that the closed period was “application to directors, senior manager and other interested parties may at any time possess sensitive information that may materially affect the price of the securities of the company.”
On its part, Berger Paints said its Board of Directors would be meeting on Thursday, October 25, 2018, to consider the company’s 2018 Q3 Unaudited Financial Statements (Accounts) and consequently declared “a closed period from Wednesday, October 10, 2018 till October 26, 2018, being 24 hours after the Accounts are to be filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), in line with Rules 17.17 & 17.18 of Part 2 (Issuer’s Rules) of the NSE’s Rule Book (2015).”
For Chemical and Allied Products (CAP) Plc, a meeting of its board has been fixed for Friday, October 19, 2018 to consider and approve the financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2018.
The firm announced a closed period from October 4 to 31, 2018 and barred any of its employees, directors and others from trading on its shares at the stock market until “24 hours after the release of the unaudited financial results for the period ended September 30, 2018 to the NSE.”
Dipo Olowookere 
Adedapo Adesanya