In a notice sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc (GSK) responded to a story by Nairametrics pertaining to the company’s declaration of a dividend despite the non-release of its audited financial statements.
The firm stated that its 2018 full year audited results would be released on or before the 28th of March 2019.
“The attention of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc (GSK) has just been drawn to a publication on the online edition of Nairametrics on the unavailability of our Company’s 2018 Year End Audited Financial Statements despite the publication of the proposed
dividend…“The 2018 Audited Financial Statements (2018 AFS) is currently undergoing review and would be filed with The Exchange on or before the 28th day of March 2019.”
In addition, the closed period would be maintained, until the results were released. During a closed period, directors, and parties with access to sensitive information can not sell their shares.
“Consequently, the closed period restricting all Directors and insiders from transacting in the shares of the company remain in place until 24 hours after the release of the Financial Statements to the public.”
The trigger
Nairametrics, in a story published last week, expressed concern that the pharmaceutical giant had released a dividend notice for the 2018 financial year, without accompanying results.
In addition, concerns were raised over the possibility of insider trading .
“The absence of results, while not intended, could create room for manipulation, since only those with insider information are aware of the results.”
The company’s investor relations did not respond to an email sent by one of Nairametric’s analysts prior to the publication of the story last week. Also, the company did not give any reasons for the action until the report by Nairametrics.
GSK Consumer Nigeria closed at N10.80 in yesterday’s trading session, unchanged from the prior day. Year to date, the stock is down 25.5%, underperforming the Nigerian Stock Exchange, which is down 1.2%
Results for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, show that revenue increased from N11.4 billion in 2017 to N13.9 billion in 2018. Profit before tax stood at N507 million, as against a loss before tax of N651 million in 2018. Profit after tax stood at N351 million in 2018, compared to a loss after tax of N651 million in 2017.
Well done Nairametrics