Business a.m.
The regulatory arm of the Nigerian Exchange Group, NGX RegCo, has suspended trading in the shares of Oando PLC effective today.
This was disclosed in a notice to trading licence holders signed by the Head, Issuer Regulation Department, Godstime Iwenekhai, on Thursday.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange suspended trading in Oando shares in March due to its inability to meet the extended deadline to publish its 2022 audited year-end results.
The company, which is listed both on the NGX and JSE also failed to meet the deadline to publish its interim results for 2023 as of the time of the suspension.
However, the suspension was lifted in June.
In the latest development, the NGX RegCo said that the indigenous oil firm had failed to submit its Audited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023.
Citing provisions of Rule 3.1 for Filing of Accounts and Treatment of Default Filing, (Default Filling Rules), which states that: ‘If an Issuer fails to file the relevant accounts by the expiration of the Cure Period, The Exchange will:
a) Send to the Issuer a ‘Second Filing Deficiency Notification’ within two (2) business days after the end of the Cure Period: b) Suspend trading in the Issuer’s securities, and c) Notify the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Market within twenty-four (24) hours of the suspension,’ the NGX RegCo said, “Trading in the shares of Oando PLC has been suspended from the facilities of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX or The Exchange) effective today, Thursday, 24 October 2024 for not filing their Audited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023.”
In a corporate notice filed with the NGX earlier in October, Oando blamed the delay on the recent acquisition of Nigerian Agip Oil Company. The deal was completed on August 22, 2024.
On its unaudited results for 2023, Oando rebounded from a N78.71bn loss in 2022 to a record N74.7bn profit in 2023.
In the year under review, the group saw its turnover increase by 71 per cent to N3.4tn compared to N1.9tn in 2022.
In a statement accompanying the results, Oando said, “This profit shows a positive turn in the company’s fortunes in comparison to the preceding year when the company posted a loss after tax. Within the larger industry context, Oando’s N74.7bn PAT compares favourably with indigenous peers over the same period under review.
