WorldStage Newsonline– Four major banks including UBA, Zenith Bank, GTB and Stanbic IBTC Holdings were forced to seek for further extension of time to submit their half year (H1) 2020 results to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on the last trading day in August 2020, blaming delays in getting approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), their primary regulator, a development that sparked up anxieties among investing public.
A market source told WorldStage that the lockdown caused by the COVID- 19 pandemic may have impacted on the CBN and slowed down the process of scrutinizing the books of the banks.
The source said the market would be worried, but not yet panic over the development with no fresh information to make investment decisions on the stocks of the affected banks which are among the most liquid and major movers of the market over the years.
A CBN source who responded to WorldStage inquiries over the possible causes of the delays at their end said on condition of anonymity that the apex bank “normally reviews reports before giving no object to publish. If there are issues, the bank will be requested to address them before approval is given. Thay may be the cause of delays.”
Since the delays involved more than one bank, a market source said it may not have been coincidental, as the apex bank may be taking more time to scrutinize their books for possible defaults on its recent intervention policies involving restriction on foreign exchange sales, extension of ban on forex allocation for import of certain goods that could be produced locally, among others.
Zenith Bank in its notification to the NSE signed by Michael Osilama Otu, Company Secretary/General Counsel gave a hint that the delay may have been caused by certain requirements that the CBN was insisting that it must met.
The notification said, “The delay is to enable the bank conclude all outstanding regulatory requirements in the course of approval of the financial statements.”
UBA earlier on Monday confirmed the delay in the filing of its Audited Financial Statements for the Half Year ended June 30, 2020 within the extended regulatory filing deadline, saying, the delay was before the Audited Financial Statements are still undergoing necessary regulatory approvals.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC in its notification said the “delay is occasioned by the fact that we are currently seeking the approval of our primary Regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria for the Half Year Audited Financial Statements, following which the said Financial Statements will then be released to the Market.”
GTB in its notification said it had initially gotten 30 day-extension of deadline to submit it result to the Exchange, but still the delay persisted at the CBN.
“The bank’s primary regulator is still in the process of reviewing the AFS and same would be released to the market upon recipt of the said approval.
“In view of the foregoing, the bank requested an extension of time from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to publish its AFS, subsequent to which a 30 day-extension was granted. However, kindly be assured that if the approval from the primary regulator is received earlier, the bank’s AFS would be released to the market earlier than the period approved by the Exchange.”
Trading ended on the last trading day of August at the NSE with a growth of 0.07 per cent, following sustained positive sentiment.
Specifically, the All-Share Index rose by 17.76 points or 0.07 per cent to close at 25, 327.13 compared with 25,309.37 achieved on Friday.
Similarly, the market capitalisation improved by nine billion naira or 0.07 per cent to close at N13.213 trillion against N13.203 trillion posted on Friday.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in large and medium capitalised stocks, amongst which are: Mobil Nigeria, Dangote Cement, Lafarge Africa, Vitafoam and BUA Cement.
Mobil led the gainers’ chart in percentage terms, appreciating by 10 per cent to close at N192.50 per share.
FTN Cocoa followed with 8.33 per cent to close at 26k, while Royal Exchange garnered 7.69 per cent to close at 28k per share.
Vitafoam inched higher by 4.39 per cent to close at N5.71, while Lafarge Africa appreciated by 3.46 per cent to close at N11.95 per share.
Conversely, C & I Leasing topped the laggards’ chart in percentage terms, with a loss of 10 per cent to close at N3.60 per share.
UACN Property trailed with a loss of 7.61 per cent to close at 85k, while Red Star Express dipped 5.19 per cent to close at N3.65 per share.
Mutual Benefits Assurance lost 4.76 per cent to close at 20k, while NEM Insurance shed 3.72 per cent to close at N2.07 per share.
Also, the total volume of shares traded increased by 120.36 per cent with an exchange of 302.01 million shares worth N2.628 billion in 3,854 deals.
This was against a total of 137.05 million shares valued at N920.53 million exchanged in 2,869 deals on Friday.
Transactions in the shares of UACN topped the activity chart, accounting for 74.43 million shares valued at N425.23 million.
Zenith Bank followed with 23.89 million shares worth N400.40 million, while United Bank for Africa traded 22.43 million shares valued at N141.15 million.
FBN Holdings traded 22.26 million shares worth N109.92 million, while Access Bank transacted 18.02 million shares worth N112.15 million.
