The Board of Directors of MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has announced that the company would observe a close period of trading from October 14, 2019, until 24 hours after the unaudited financial results for the period ended September 30, 2019, are released to the public.
The statement, which was disclosed in a notification sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), stated that the Board of Directors of the company would hold a meeting on October 29, 2019. Part of the agenda will involve the approval and consideration of the results as well as other items.
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The announcement is in line with rule 17.18 of Part 2 (Issuer’s Rules) of the NSE’s Rule Book (2015) which states that,
“The period of closure shall be effective from fifteen (15) days prior to the date of any meeting of the Board of Directors proposed to be held to consider any of the matters referred to above or the date of circulation of agenda papers pertaining to any of the matters referred to above, whichever is earlier, up to twenty-four hours after the price-sensitive information is submitted to the Exchange. The trading window shall thereafter be opened. Every issuer shall notify the Exchange in advance of the commencement of each closed period.”
Why this matters: The close period will allow the board to consider the company’s unaudited financial statements for the third quarter. Other company issues will also be discussed during the meeting.
What is a close period? A close period is a period before the release of a company’s result or financial statement when of course, those with sensitive information are not allowed to trade on the stock. These individuals may include company directors, audit committee members, persons discharging managerial responsibility, employees and consultants with sensitive information.
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A Nairametrics report disclosed that the number of MTN Nigeria’s internet users dropped to 51.6 million in August, recording a loss of 664,245 Internet subscribers according to the Nigerian Communications Commission.
Responding to the claim, MTN Nigeria blamed the swift depletion of data on a system upgrade. However, this is not the first time MTN Nigeria will be losing internet subscribers. Back in June, the company lost 178,103 internet subscribers.
