Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Shareholders of Linkage Assurance Plc have agreed to have 2 billion ordinary shares of the company to be distributed among them.
These stocks would be shared as bonus shares and would be only for those whose names appear in the register of members at the close of business on Friday, July 17, 2020.
Business Post reports that this decision to give bonus shares to investors of the company was reached at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Thursday, August 13, 2020, at the Agip Recital Hall of the MUSON Centre, Lagos.
During the meeting, the shareholders authorised the board of directors to capitalise N1 billion of the company’s General Reserves Account for the bonus shares.
It was stated that beneficiaries will get one share for every four held by them as at the qualification date. However, this bonus shares, according to the insurer, will still require the approvals of the regulatory agencies.
“That in accordance with the recommendation of the directors, the sum of N1 billion of the company’s General Reserves Account be and hereby capitalised for bonus issue and the said N1 billion divided into 2 billion ordinary shares of 5 kobo each, be appropriated to the members whose names appear in the register of members at the close of business on July 17, 2020, in the proportion of one share for every four registered in such members’ name on that date, subject to the approval of the appropriate regulatory authorities, the shares so distributed being treated for all purposes as capital and not income, ranking pari passu with the existing shares issued pursuant to this resolution,” the resolution from the AGM said.
Business Post reports that Linkage Assurance, which has outstanding shares of 9,999,999,994 and a market capitalisation of N3.8 billion, recorded a price appreciation of one kobo or 2.63 per cent last Friday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to trade at 39 kobo per unit.
In the 2019 financial year, Linkage Assurance grew its Gross Premium Written (GPW) to N6.5 billion from N5.4 billion, while the profit before tax (PBT) rose to N1.3 billion from N134.7 million in 2018.
