By Dipo Olowookere
The board of Consolidated Hallmark Insurance (CHI Plc) is proposing to give shareholders of the company some bonus shares.
This decision was reached at the meeting of the board of directors of the firm on Wednesday, July 29, 2020.
In a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange NSE), it was disclosed that the gathering was conveyed virtually via a Microsoft Teams App, with a quorum present.
During the meeting, it was agreed that these bonus shares would be issued only after securing the approval of the company’s investors at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM).
At the AGM, the board will seek approval of the shareholders “to issue bonus shares of 677,500,000 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each amounting to a sum of N338,750,000, from its retained earnings in the sum of N405,951,229 as contained in its December 2019 audited annual report.”
Also, the investors will have to authorise that the “bonus shares shall be distributed at the ratio of one new share for every 15 shares currently held by shareholders who are on the register of members as at August 19, 2020.”
CHI Plc is one of the companies operating in the nation’s insurance industry, which is quite busy lately with the recapitalisation requirement of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).
Business Post reports that in May 2020, the company completed its rights issue, where it offered to sell to existing shareholders of the firm 2,032,500,000 ordinary shares of the company at a unit price of 52 kobo per share on the basis of one new ordinary shares for every four ordinary shares held as at the close of business on February 3, 2020.
The idea behind the exercise was to raise at least N1.1 billion to boost the capital base of the organisation in line with the directive of NAICOM, which regulates the sector.
On Thursday, November 21, 2019, in Lagos, shareholders of the firm, at an Extra-Ordinary General Meeting (EGM), authorised the board to raise at least N5.6 billion through rights issue, mergers, private/public, special offering or any other methods either locally or internationally or both.
At the stock market on Wednesday, shares of CHI Plc closed flat at 45 kobo per unit. Activities around the company’s stocks at the market have also been dull.
Aduragbemi Omiyale