Royal Exchange Plc has summoned an emergency board meeting apparently in a bid to urgently resolve the issues that recently led to it being placed under caveat by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
According to a notice signed by the Company Secretary Sheila Ezeuko and published on the NSE website, the meeting would hold in Lagos on 20th June 2019.
Backstory: Recall that Nairametrics reported yesterday that the NSE had placed the company alongside 33 others on red alert for breaching various post-listing regulations ranging from failure to submit their financial statements and accounts to the NSE and the inability to publish same in at least one or two national dailies as well as on the companies’ websites.
Details of the proposed meeting: According to the notice to the NSE, the board would receive and consider the audited financial statements of Royal Exchange PLC for the year ended 31st December 2018 at the meeting.
They would also receive and consider the unaudited financial statements of the company for the period ended 31st March 2019.
Why this Matters: Convening the meeting and resolving all the issues the NSE raised against it would lead to the removal of Royal Exchange Plc from the blacklist of 34 companies.
It is thus a timely intervention that would enable the company to restore investors’ confidence swiftly before the matter escalates. Similarly, it would help forestall a possible liquidity crisis.
A section of the statement reads as follows;
“In furtherance of our notification on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on April 1, 2019, all Insiders and their Connected Persons are once again reminded that they are prohibited from trading in the Company’s shares from April 1, 2019 until 24 hours after the release of the two Financial Statements of the Company to the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the general public.”
Meeting the NSE’s post-listing as soon as possible will remove all the restrictions placed on trading in the company’s stock on the NSE by the persons involved.
About the Company: Royal Exchange PLC commenced operations in Nigeria in 1918, represented by Barclays Bank DCO. In 1921, it converted to a full branch of its then parent company, Royal Exchange Assurance, London.
The company was, in December 1969, reconstituted and incorporated as a Private Limited Liability Company. The company went public on 18 July 1989 and was duly listed on the NSE on 3rd Decenber, 1990.
