Fidelity Bank Plc has informed the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and other stakeholders about the commencement of its closed period, ahead of the release of the company’s unaudited financial statement for the first quarter ended March 31st, 2020.
A statement by the company, as seen by Nairametrics, emphasised that all insiders and their connected persons shall no longer be allowed to trade in the company’s stock starting from today.
What this means: This is a temporary prohibition, particularly for Fidelity Bank’s core investors, their close relatives, as well as anyone who discharges key managerial roles in the company. In the same vein, the company’s regular staff and other related persons are prohibited from dealing in the stock for the meantime.
In other words, this is a temporary restriction for those with insider information about Fidelity Bank Plc. Those who fall under this category will no longer be able to buy, sell, or transfer Fidelity Bank shares. The prohibition period will last until twenty-four hours after the company’s unaudited Q1 2020 financial statement has been disclosed to the public.
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According to a statement that was signed by Fidelity Bank’s Company Secretary, Ezinwa Unuigboje, the closed period is in accordance with Fidelity Bank’s Insider Trading Policy, as well as the extant Issuers’ Rules of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Note that the closed period would allow the lender to commence the filings of its unaudited financial statements for the first quarter of the year which ended earlier this week. This could mean that Fidelity Bank will potentially become one of the first companies to disclose their Q1 2020 financial statements to the general public.
Recall that in January 2020, the lender released its audited 2019 financial statement which showed a 28.5% increase in profit after tax. As Nairametrics reported, the company’s profit after tax stood at N29.5 billion in FY 2019, compared to N22.9 billion in FY 2018.