The Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, is set to penalise 14 firms for failing to meet July 31 deadline for the submission of their interim financial and operational reports.
Sources at the Exchange said the listed firms were to submit their first half and second quarters’ interim earnings report and accounts by that date, The nation reports.
The Bourse’s Post-listing rules require quoted companies to submit their audited earnings’ reports, no later than three months after the expiration of the period.
The rules also require quoted companies to submit their interim reports not later than 30 days after the end of the relevant period.
Most quotedcompanies, including all banks, major manufacturers, oil and gas cement companies use the 12-month Gregorian calendar as their busines year. Their business year thus terminates on December 31. March 31 is the deadline for the submission of the yearly report of companies with Gregorian calendar business year. The deadline for the quarterly report is a month after the quarter.
The regulatory filing calendar of the NSE indicated that July 31 was the deadline for the results for the period ended June 30, thus the last working day of the period, Friday, July 29, was effectively the deadline.
According to sources, there would be no general waiver or extension of the earnings submission deadline besides the specific waiver or extension granted to some companies that had applied for such, noting that the Exchange would impose appropriate sanctions on the companies that defaulted. The Exchange confirmed that it would sanction the companies that failed the deadline.
“The Exchange will enforce the appropriate sanctions in accordance with the Issuers’ Rule 2015 where a listed company fails to apply for an extension or provide a reasonable explanation before the due date,” NSE stated in email response to enquiry by The Nation.
The NSE indicated that about three-quarters of companies met the deadline. Besides the 14 active companies, there are also about 40 dormant companies under the watch of the Exchange.
