NSE places DAAR Communications, 33 others on red alert

Authorities of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has placed red alerts DAAR Communications, owners of Ray Power FM and AIT and some other 33 quoted companies including Capital oil and Conoil  as a disciplinary measure for breaching some of its extant rules.

According to information gathered by National Daily, the NSE came hard on the firms because of their inability to hand in their financial statements before the set deadline.

The 34 culpable companies “fell short of the minimum listing standards in terms of timely disclosure of their audited annual financial statements.”

In specific terms, they did not submit their financial statements and accounts for the first quarter of 2019, which ended on the 31st March.

It is worthy of note one of the conditions subsequent to the listing of companies on the bourse demand that each company must submit its interim and quarterly reports within the 30 days following the period in question.

In addition, companies are mandated to publish their financial statements within five days of submitting them to the NSE in a minimum of one or two national dailies and post it on the NSE website with the web address stated in the newspaper publication.

By flagging the companies in its latest tracker on compliance with post-listing requirements, the NSE has alerted the public about the lapses in the companies corporate governance. This may, in turn, erode investors’ confidence in those companies.

The companies involved are expected to receive financial penalties for the infringements. The NSE is expected to determine the fines any moment from now. The fines range from as little as N100,000 to N100 million depending on the gravity of the offence.

The affected companies are:  A.G Leventis Nigeria Plc; Anino International Plc; Aso Savings & Loans; Cornerstone Insurance; Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc; DN Tyre & Rubber Plc; Evans Medical Plc; First Aluminium Nigeria Plc.; Niger Insurance Plc; NPF Microfinance Bank Plc; Omatek Ventures Plc and RT Briscoe Plc

Others are: Fortis Microfinance Bank Plc; FTN Cocoa Processors Plc; Goldlink Insurance Plc; Guinea Insurance Plc; International Breweries Plc; International Energy Insurance Plc; Juli Plc; Lafarge Africa Plc; Lasaco Assurance Plc; Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc; Resort Savings & Loans Plc; Royal Exchange Plc; Defunct Skye Bank, now Polaris Bank; Smart Products Nigeria Plc.

The list also included:  Staco Insurance Plc; Standard Alliance Insurance Plc; Unic Diversified Holding Plc; Union Homes Savings & Loans Plc and Universal Insurance Company Plc.