Economy
Companies in Last-Minute Rush to Submit 2018 FY Earnings Friday
By Dipo Olowookere
Information reaching Business Post has it that some companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) are making frantic efforts to meet up with the Sunday, March 31, 2019 deadline for the filing of their earnings for the year ended December 31, 2018.
Though not all the listed companies run the January 1 to December 31 financial year, majority of them do.
Technically, quoted firms yet to submit their financial scorecards for the 2018 fiscal year have only today and tomorrow to do so.
According to the NSE rules on filing of annual results, “Audited annual accounts shall be filed with The Exchange not later than 90 calendar days after the relevant year end, and published in at least two national daily newspapers not later than 21 days before the date of the Annual General Meeting, and posted on the company’s website with the web address disclosed in the newspaper publications.
“An electronic copy of the publications shall be filed with The Exchange within two business days of the publications.”
However, the stock market regulator warned that “Any late submission of accounts shall attract the following fines:
“(a) One Hundred Thousand Naira (N100,000) per day for the first ninety (90) calendar days of non-compliance;
“(b) Two Hundred Thousand Naira (N200,000) per day for the next ninety (90) calendar days of non-compliance;
“(c) Four Hundred Thousand Naira (N400,000) per day thereafter until the date of submission.”
It is important to note that the NSE created a window for those who may not meet the deadline to apply for time extension.
“Where an Issuer has a reasonable belief that it will not be able to file its accounts by the relevant due date, the Issuer may before the due date submit an application for an extension of time, supported by compelling reasons and evidence in support of its inability to file its accounts by the due date. The Issuer’s application shall be received by The Exchange not later than: (a) thirty (30) calendar days before the filing due date for annual accounts; and (b) fourteen (14) calendar days before the filing due date for quarterly accounts.
“The Exchange may in its sole discretion decide whether to grant such extension or not, provided that any extension granted shall not exceed ninety (90) calendar days from the relevant due date (the Cure Period),” the rules stressed.
A check by Business Post showed that less than 20 percent of the listed companies have released their results so far.
For example in the banking sector, only GTBank, Access Bank, UBA, Stanbic IBTC Holdings and Zenith Bank have released their results, while in the insurance sector, virtually all the companies are yet to release their annual accounts.
From what we gathered, some companies are planning to bombard the market tomorrow with their results, while others are seeking an extension because they await approval from their regulators.
Companies in the banking sector normally first forward their results for approval to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) after board’s approval before releasing to the public, while those in the insurance sector take theirs to the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).
However, companies are also told to factor the different factors in the preparation of their financial statements.
In recent times, shareholders of companies fined for late submission of their results have asked the regulators to go tough on the directors.
They argued that these directors fail to meet up with the deadline because they know nothing will happen to them, while the fine is paid by shareholders, reducing what should come to them as dividend.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Okitipupa Plc was the sole price gainer at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, August 7, lifting the trading platform by 0.44 per cent at the close of transactions.
The share price of the palm oil producer appreciated during the trading session by N25.00 or 9.0 per cent to N277.00 per unit compared with the previous day’s N252.00 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation gained N12.29 billion to close at N2,807 trillion, in contrast to the previous session’s N2.795 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) added 93.63 points to finish at 4,678.08 points compared with Thursday’s 4,657.59 points.
The bourse recorded a price loser yesterday, and this was Mass Telecoms Innovation Plc, which crashed by 3 Kobo or 9.4 per cent to settle at 32 Kobo per share versus the previous day’s 35 Kobo per share.
The volume of securities traded by investors plunged by 81.5 per cent to 535,7560 units from 2.9 million units, the value of securities slumped by 93.9 per cent to N6.0 million from N99.2 million, and the number of deals decreased by 41.9 per cent to 36 deals from 62 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 77.0 million units exchanged for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
A 0.15 per cent growth was achieved by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, driven by continued buying interest in banking stocks such as First Holdco and others.
The banking index was up by 1.53 per cent during the session, offsetting the losses recorded by the others. The industrial goods segment fell by 0.37 per cent, the insurance counter shrank by 0.21 per cent, and the energy sector contracted by 0.04 per cent, while the consumer goods space closed flat.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) moved up by 364.26 points to 245,573.60 points from 245,209.34 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N235 billion to N158.513 trillion from N158.278 trillion.
Despite the gains printed by Customs Street during the trading day, investor sentiment was weak, as there were 22 price gainers and 24 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
UPDC surged by 9.23 per cent to N3.55, CWG soared by 6.56 per cent to N19.50, AXA Mansard appreciated by 4.80 per cent to N13.10, Neimeth advanced by 4.24 per cent to N8.60, and Cutix improved by 4.00 per cent to N2.60.
Conversely, Red Star Express lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N18.00, CAP declined by 9.98 per cent to N115.45, John Holt shrank by 9.82 per cent to N10.10, ABC Transport depreciated by 9.57 per cent to N5.20, and Legend Internet crashed by 8.70 per cent to N4.20.
A total of 1.5 billion equities worth N26.7 billion exchanged hands in 42,580 deals on Friday versus the 531.8 million equities valued at N20.5 billion traded in 44,826 deals on Thursday, representing a spike in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 182.06 per cent, 30.24 per cent, and 5.01 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock during the session was Fortis Global Insurance, with a turnover of 824.5 million units valued at N2.1 billion, FCMB traded 217.9 million units worth N2.8 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 176.2 million units for N4.7 billion, Chams sold 32.5 million units worth N132.1 million, and First Holdco transacted 25.0 million units valued at N3.7 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further closed south against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, August 7, by 81 Kobo or 0.06 per cent to N1,365.69/$1 from N1,364.88/$1.
It was a similar situation for the Nigerian Naira in the official market during the session as against the Pound Sterling; it lost N1.08 to quote at N1,839.17 versus the previous day’s N1,838.09/£1, and against the Euro, it slipped by N1.23 to close at N1,575.73/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,574.80/€1.
Further, at the GTBank forex counter, the Nigerian currency weakened against the Dollar yesterday by N2 to settle at N1,371/$1 compared with Thursday’s N1,369/$1, and at the black market, it traded flat at N1,400/$1.
The country’s legal tender came under FX demand pressure on Friday, with turnover rising by 304.3 per cent to $399.5 million from $98.8 million the previous day, with the number of deals slightly up to 107 from 106.
Next week, traders expect the Naira to hold steady, buoyed by dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), whose presence in the market could help ease demand pressure.
As for the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) neared the $65,000-mark after it gained 0.8 per cent to trade at $64,968.05, as investors took advantage of recent drops to shore up their holdings.
Previously, the decision by the US Senate to delay a vote on the Crypto Clarity Act until at least September weakened the outlook. The bill, which would set out which US regulator oversees which digital assets, needs 60 votes to pass and it is unclear whether it currently has 50.
Solana (SOL) grew by 2.5 per cent to $74.81, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 1.3 per cent to $0.0702, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped by 1.1 per cent to $593.80, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 0.5 per cent to $1,916.08, Ripple (XRP) also soared by 0.5 per cent to $1.03, and TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.2 per cent to $0.3275.
However, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 1.0 per cent to $0.1997, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
