THE regulatory arm of the Nigerian Exchange Group (NXG), has suspended the trading of Oando Plc’s shares on the exchange floor for non-compliance with regulatory rules.
The suspension takes effect from Thursday, October 24, according to NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the NGX Group.
It said Oando, an indigenous oil firm, had yet to submit its audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023.
In a notice to trading licence holders signed by the head of the issuer regulation department, Godstime Iwenekhai, on Thursday, NGX RegCo noted that Oando had violated provisions of Rule 3.1 for filing of accounts and treatment of default filing, (default filling rules).
It cited the rule as stating that if an issuer fails to file the relevant accounts by the expiration of the cure period, the exchange will: Send to the issuer a second filing deficiency notification’ within two (2) business days after the end of the cure period; suspend trading in the issuer’s securities, and notify the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the market within twenty-four (24) hours of the suspension.
“Trading in the shares of Oando Plc has been suspended from the facilities of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX or The Exchange) effective today, Thursday, 24 October 2024 for not filing their audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023,” the NGX RegCo said.
The ICIR can report that this is the second time in a year that Oando’s shares have been suspended from trading in the stock market.
In March, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange suspended trading in Oando shares due to its inability to meet the extended deadline to publish its 2022 audited financial statements after failing to meet the deadline to publish its interim results for 2023.
In June, however, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange lifted the suspension.
In a notification to the NGX and the investing public on July 3, Oando said the company would not be able to meet the expected filing date of July 31 earlier communicated to the public on April 8, 2024.
It stated in the notification, “In accordance with the extension applied for and granted by the NGX, the company expects to publish its 2023 audited financial statements and Q1 and Q2 2024 management accounts by Monday, September 30, 2024, thereby bringing up to date all its outstanding financial reporting obligations.
Further, the oil firm apologised for any inconvenience caused by its delay and promised to keep the market informed of any updates regarding the current situation.
In another corporate notice filed with the NGX earlier in October, Oando blamed the delay on its recent acquisition of Nigerian Agip Oil company.
The deal completed on August 22 this year where Oando acquired a 100 per cent divestment of Italian firm Eni onshore Nigerian assets, attracted a lot of controversies.
The controversies came following Oando’s unhealthy financial positions posted between 2019 and 2021 and the surprise that the company could acquire the Italian firm’s assets at about $500 million.
Controversies further trailed Oando’s acquisition of the Italian oil assets under its group chief executive, Adewale Tinubu, said to be the nephew of President Bola Tinubu, within a year of his office.
In June 2022, The ICIR reported that Oando faced huge financial losses and was on the verge of voluntary delisting from the Nigerian stock market.
The ICIR also reported in 2023 that Oando’s independent auditor, BDO Professional Services Chartered Accountants, in their auditor’s report, expressed worries over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.
In its unaudited results for 2023, Oando reported that it rebounded from an N78.71 billion loss in 2022 to a N74.7 profit in 2023.