Companies

Finally, Oando gets SEC approval to proceed with AGM

Published

3 years ago

September 6, 2017

Nigerian integrated oil and gas firm, Oando Plc, confirmed on Wednesday that it has now obtained SEC approval to proceed with its AGM, scheduled to hold on the 11th of September, 2017.

The company confirmed this via its twitter handle.

SEC clears Oando, AGM to hold as planned. pic.twitter.com/Z1vCtUHGOe

— Oando PLC (@Oando_PLC) September 6, 2017

According to a letter dated August 31, 2017 and sent to the company by the Security and Exchange Commission, which was seen by Nairametrics, the SEC stated that

“Following the submission of an interim report by the Special Task Team the commission is of the opinion that it is unable to identify any material findings that would warrant the postponement of the Company’s 40th Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled to hold on September, 2017. Consequently Oando Plc can proceed with its 40th AGM as currently scheduled.”

Background of the matter

News first broke last July that the Security and Exchange Commission had received a petition from some “shareholders of the company ” around a “petition/investigation of Oando transactions/trades.” Oando promptly debunked the reporting leading to the story being withdrawn by Channels TV (who broke the story).

Oando later revealed on August 28, 2017 that two petitions were filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleging gross abuse of corporate governance and financial mismanagement.

It also alleged that one of the petitioners, Ansbury Plc was not a shareholder in Oando but a shareholder in a company domiciled outside the country which in turn holds shares in a Nigerian investment company that has shares in Oando.

It also said that the second petitioner is Alhaji Dahiru Mangal requested
clarification from the SEC on issues which he could easily have obtained from the
Company. They also claimed that Alhaji Mangal indicated in his petition that he holds a 17.9 % interest in Oando, of which 4% in his personal capacity. They further claimed that he was yet to disclose his beneficial ownership of 13.9%, in accordance with the Corporate and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). Failure to do so is a violation of the act, and that Oando has written to inform both SEC and Alhaji Mangal.

Will the AGM proceed

Based on the letter cited by Nairametrics, it does appear that the AGM will proceed on the 11th of September as stated. Oando’s share price fell 1.06% to N6.53 at the end of trading on Wednesday, 6th September.

Our take

We do not have any take on the matter at the moment as we are still processing the flurry of information we have on this issue. We have also not heard from the petitioners on what exactly the content of their petition is and whether they have accepted SEC’s decision or if they plan to appeal.

Nairametrics

Nairametrics is Nigeria's top business news and financial analysis website. We focus on providing resources that help small businesses and retail investors make better investing decisions. Nairametrics is updated daily by a team of professionals. Post updated as "Nairametrics" are published by our Editorial Board.

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Companies

Lafarge Africa Plc. announces its board meeting and closed period for Q2 2020

The notification which was duly signed by General Counsel & Company Secretary.

Published

3 days ago

July 7, 2020

Lawretta Egba

Lafarge Africa Plc. notified the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the investing public that he closed period will commence on Wednesday, 8th July 2020 until the unaudited financial statement for the second quarter ended 30th June 2020, is released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

In a disclosure on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, it wrote: “We hereby notify the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the investing public that a meeting of the Board of Directors of Lafarge Africa Plc has been scheduled to hold on Thursday, 23rd July 2020 to consider the second quarter financial results of the Company for the quarter ended 30th June 2020.”

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The notification which was duly signed by General Counsel & Company Secretary, Mrs. Adewunmi Alode explained further stating that “Accordingly, no Director, employee, persons discharging managerial responsibility and Advisers of the Company and their connected persons may directly or indirectly deal in the shares of the Company in any manner during the closed period.”

Over the past few months, it made a few board changes with the retirement of two of its Non-Executive Directors, as well as the appointment of three new Directors. It had also spun off its South African subsidiary, Lafarge South Africa Holdings (LSAH), last year.

Lafarge Africa’s Q1 2020 revenue was up 9.8% year-on-year to N63.7 billion, driven by higher Cement Sales (a figure up 11% year-on-year to N62.3 billion) which offset the weakness in Aggregate and Concrete (down 21% y/y to N1.4bn). Its EBITDA grew by 2.4% year-on-year to N19.3 billion as well. As at Tuesday the 7th of July, the share price of the company was N10.00.

Companies

AXA Mansard Insurance Plc gives notice of Annual General Meeting

The AGM will be live-streamed to enable shareholders and stakeholders participate.

Published

3 days ago

July 7, 2020

Lawretta Egba

Insurance firm, AXA Mansard Insurance Plc., has given notice of its board of its Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at 10:00 a.m.

The announcement which was disclosed by Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in a corporate disclosure on July 7th, 2020 and signed by Company Secretary, Omowunmi Mabel Adewusi read, “Notice is hereby given that the twenty-eighth annual general meeting of AXA Mansard Insurance Plc. will hold at the Oriental Hotel, no. 3, Lekki Road, Victoria Island, Lagos on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at 10:00 a.m.”

As noted, the purpose of the AGM is to transact the following business:

To receive the Audited Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2019, and the Reports of the Directors, Auditors and Statutory Audit Committee thereon
To authorise Directors to fix the remuneration of the Auditors
To elect Directors and
To elect members of the Statutory Audit Committee.

In order to ensure that all relevant stakeholders can be a part of the AGM, the company will also be streaming the AGM live. It noted that “This will enable shareholders and other stakeholders who will not be attending physically to follow the proceedings.”

The link for the live streaming of the Meeting will be made available on the Company’s website at www.axamansard.com.

Recall that a few months ago, in March, the company’s Board of Directors announced the appointment of John Dickson as the company’s new Non-Executive Director. A month earlier, it also disclosed its plan to sell its pension management subsidiary (AXA Mansard Pensions Ltd) and some undisclosed real estate investments.

Its unaudited financials for the period Q1 2020 reveal a growth across revenue and profit lines. Gross written premium grew by 21% from N17.4 billion earned in Q1 2019 to N21 billion in Q1 2020. Profit for the year for the group grew by a commendable 120% from N890 million in Q1 2019 to N1.9 billion in Q1 2020.

As at Tuesday, the 7th of July when markets closed, the share price of the company was N1.59. The company’s EPS stood at 0.33 while its price to book ratio stood at 0.6082.

Companies

NSITF board to investigate suspended MD and others over financial misconduct

Published

5 days ago

July 6, 2020

Chike Olisah

NSITF, FG moves to scrap hazard allowances earned by State Governors

The board of directors of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has revealed that it will investigate the activities of the suspended Managing Director, 3 Executive Directors, and 8 other senior management staff over financial breaches and gross misconduct.

This was disclosed by the Chairman of the board of NSITF, Mr. Austin Enajemo-Isire, in a statement in Enugu on Sunday July 5, 2020.

Enajemo-Isire said that the Managing Director and other top management staff of the organization would have the opportunity to clear themselves of any wrongdoing with the probe panel which was being set up.

While reacting to claims that the suspension did not follow due process as President Muhammadu Buhari did not approve it, Enajemo-Isire said that the approval for the suspension of the affected staff had been conveyed to the Labour Minister in a correspondence referenced SGF. 47/511/T/99 of June 30, 2020.

According to the Chairman, “The minister has conveyed this approval and directives to me for necessary action in terms of setting up a board-driven investigative panel.

“This is to give the affected officers the opportunity to clear themselves of the financial and procurement breaches and acts of gross misconduct and other infractions that gave rise to their prima facie indictment.

“It is in this light that I have decided to call a virtual meeting of the management board on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, to consider the modalities for our action.”

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He, therefore, appealed to staffers of NSITF and their social partners to keep calm and exercise restraint.

A few days ago, Nairametrics reported the suspension of the Managing Director and some senior management staff over corruption allegations. However, the management in its reaction debunked that claim and said that the President did not approve their suspension but that rather, it was the sole decision of the Labour Minister, Chris Ngige, who they said was overreaching himself.