In the wake of high-geared efforts at unleashing their financial scorecards for the full year 2018, debates relating to more rewarding full dividends have become utmost in many companies’ board meetings.
In line with the post-listing requirements of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for quoted companies, many companies have been notifying the regulator of their closed periods and board of directors’ scheduled meetings where they are expected to consider the audited financial statements for the year 2018 as well as make recommendations for payment of final dividend.
A closed period is the time period between the completion of a listed company’s financial results and the announcing of these results to the public. The closed period is intended to prevent trading in a company’s shares by its insiders ahead of the public dissemination of its financial results.
Zenith Bank Plc is the early bird in the full-year results release process as the company’s board of directors at its meeting of January 18, 2019 approved, among other things, the audited accounts of the bank for the financial year ended December 31, 2018 for onward delivery to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for approval.
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Banks are required to forward their audited accounts to the CBN for approval prior to the release of the results on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Zenith had in a January 4, 2019 letter to the NSE noted, among others, that the Board of Directors would make recommendations for payment of final dividend.
Aside from Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc have issued notice of their closed periods and are perfecting the submission of their full-year scorecards to appropriate regulators.
The meeting of the Board of Directors of GTBank Plc is scheduled to hold Wednesday, January 30, to consider the audited financial statements of the bank for the year ended December 31, 2018.
“Issues relating to full-year dividend may also be discussed at the meeting,” GTBank Plc said in a January 4 note to the NSE.
In what seemed like the bulls grabbing the baton from the bears last week on Custom Street, the domestic bourse traded in green territory on all five trading days of the week and consequently gained 3.9 percent week-on-week (wow) to close well above the 30,000 points threshold at 31,005.0 points.
The NSE All Share Index (ASI) opened this week on a negative note after losing 0.88 percent to 30,732.72 point at the sound of closing gong. The value of listed stocks also decreased by about N102 billion from last Friday highs of N11.562 trillion to N11.460 trillion at the close of trading on Monday, January 21.
Zenith Bank share price at N21.50 as at close of trading on Monday, January 21, represents 6.7 percent decline this year. GTBank Plc at N31.70 per share has lost 8 percent of its value this year.
United Bank for Africa Plc which closed N7.35 represents 4.5 percent decline year-to-date (ytd). Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc closed at N47 per share, down 2 percent this year, while Unilever Nigeria Plc is now at its year-open level of N37 per share.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc had on November 19, 2018 issued a statement on the commencement of its closed period with effect from December 1, 2018, until the company’s full-year 2018 Audited Financial Statements are released.
The hope of reaping bountifully from share capital appreciation seems dashed as many investment analysts continue to advise investors to cautiously invest in stocks as they maintain a near-term bearish outlook for the market till the elections are concluded.
“We recommend that investors take position in cheap assets with sound fundamentals in order to take advantage of the anticipated market rally post-election,” research analysts at Lagos-based Afrinvest said in a January 21 note.
“With positive investor sentiment returning to the market last week, we are cautiously optimistic. Whilst we expect buying momentum to fizzle out on cement stocks, we foresee some buy interest in depressed Tier-1 banking stocks,” said Vetiva Capital Research in a January 21 note.
Stanbic IBTC had noted that the “closed period is still ongoing particularly with respect to embargoed persons as contained in the Company’s Personal Account Trading Policy”, adding that meeting of its Board of Directors will hold on Thursday, January 31, 2019.
“The meeting will discuss, amongst other items, the Company’s Consolidated and Separate Audited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December, 2018,” it said.
Iheanyi Nwachukwu & Mercy Ibemere
