Nigerian Stock Exchange Delists 14 Firms Over Failure to Meet Regulatory Requirements

Niger Insurance Company, Resort Savings, Loans Company, and RAK Unity Petroleum Company are on the list of 14 companies to be delisted from the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) this year for failing to meet listing requirements.

The stock exchange recently informed the investing public that it would delist the three companies from day-to-day market activities for failing to report their 2023 financial results. According to a statement signed by NGX Head of Issuer Regulation, Godstime Iwenekhai, the exchange has formally delisted the three companies.

Goldlink Insurance Plc, Medview Airlines Plc, STACO Insurance Plc, Standard Alliance Insurance Plc, Greif Nigeria Plc, Union Dicon Salt Plc, and Austin Laz and Company Plc are among the companies to be delisted this year. Others include ASO Savings and Loans Plc, Union Homes Savings & Loans Plc, Capital Oil Plc, and The Tourist Company of Nigeria Plc.

The board of directors of NGX RegCo, the exchange’s regulator, approved the commencement of the delisting process for these 14 companies at its June 2024 meeting.

Journalists’ investigation found that most of the affected companies face operational and regulatory issues that make it difficult for them to present audit results and balance sheets to the stock exchange.

Pending delisting, Medview Airways’ Share price on the NGX floor has not fallen below or exceeded N1.62 per share in the past two years. As of 15 October 2021, data from the local exchange showed that the company recorded 0 trades and 0 volume during the period under review.

Moreover, the airline was one of the NGX-listed companies with a float deficit of 14.16%. The company’s CEO Sheikh Abdul Mohseen Al Tunayan said the performance was due to political tensions and tight liquidity.

Meanwhile, RAK Unity Petroleum completed its liquidation on September 26, 2023, and was subsequently dissolved.

Journalists further gathered that The Tourist Company of Nigeria Ltd and Standard Alliance Insurance Company Ltd failed to submit their audit results for 2020.

Union Homes Savings & Loans Plc and Aso Savings & Loans Plc have not provided their audit results and balance sheets to the stock exchange for more than six years.

NGX said the delisting took effect on July 18 because the three companies’ operations fell below the exchange’s listing standards.

“Trading license holders and the investing public are hereby notified that pursuant to the provisions of Clause 15 of General Undertaking, Appendix iii Of the Rule Book of The Exchange, 2015, Part II,” the statement reads.

“Issuer Rules on Delisting”, the process provides that the Council reserves the right to remove the name of a company from the official list of the Stock Exchange at its sole discretion and may do so if it deems that the public interest is insufficient.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange also stated that if there are insufficient shares available in the hands of the public or “Any of the foregoing terms and conditions are not complied with, or the company becomes a subsidiary of any other company.”

NGX said in a statement that Niger Insurance and Resort Savings and Loans’ operating licenses were granted by the primary regulators, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), “effective 21 June 21, 2002, and May 24, 2023, respectively”.

The only two companies on the delisting watchlist are Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc and Multi-Trex Integrated Foods Plc.