Some shareholders of MRS Oil Nigeria Plc have thrown their weight behind the delisting of the company from the Nigerian Exchange.
One of the firm’s shareholders and directors, Mathew Akinlade, noted that the planned delisting of MRS Oil Nigeria from the equity market would have no adverse effects on investors.
He told Sunday PUNCH that delisting MRS Oil Nigeria from the NGX would enable it to expand and become more profitable.
“It just reduces costs in terms of regulatory fees, and it does not affect the performance of the company. In the recent past, some companies have delisted and moved to NASD. It is just to reduce costs.
“It has no negative implications for investors. The company is growing, and profit is also growing. Things will go fine, and we will still have our annual general meeting,” he enthused.
The Board of Directors of MRS Oil Nigeria proposed a voluntary delisting of the company’s issued shares from the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
The firm revealed this in a notice of extraordinary general meeting filed with the exchange on Friday.
According to the notice, the decision involves the removal of 342,884,706 ordinary shares from the daily official list and the Main Board of the NGX.
The accompanying notes to the EGM notice stated that the board of directors took into account regulatory requirements, administrative and compliance costs, new opportunities, changing market conditions, and the trajectory of anticipated long-term plans to delist the company’s issued shares, which total 342,884,706 ordinary shares, for the company’s financial and operational growth.
“The board of directors of the company (the “Board”), having undergone a strategic reassessment of the company’s status, particularly considering regulatory obligations, administrative and compliance costs, emerging opportunities, evolving market conditions, and the trajectory of projected long-term financial and operational growth, proposes to de-list the issued shares of the Company, comprising a total of 342,884,706 (three hundred and forty-two million, eight hundred and eighty-four thousand, seven hundred and six) ordinary shares from the daily official list and trading on the Main Board of the NGX (the “voluntary delisting),” the firm explained.
Meanwhile, the National Coordinator of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Moses Igbrude, told Sunday PUNCH that shareholders had no reason to worry because MRS Oil Nigeria would remain a public limited company and would perform the same functions.
“There won’t be much difference as far as it would still be a public limited company but not listed on the exchange. The same thing you can do on the floor of the exchange, you can still do on the floor of the NASD. It is the same thing, and they have their own reasons why they are going to do that.
“The market will shrink. They will lose revenue, and they will reduce in number, and these are the major implications,” he noted.
An economy and capital market analyst, Rotimi Fakayejo, claimed the firm’s delisting was advantageous to shareholders, as it would lower its post-listing charge and rarely results in penalties for failure to file reports.
“For the market, there will be less visibility of that stock, and that is a setback for the market. For the company or the stakeholders in the company, it is to their advantage because they believe their post-listing fee is reduced, and there is rarely any penalty when they do not do their reporting when it is due. They have all the advantages.
“After the voluntary delisting concludes, the board will make sure that all necessary actions are taken for the company’s shares to be accepted to the NASD OTC Securities Exchange, taking into account the shareholders’ trading needs,” he explained.
MRS Oil Nigeria’s share was flat, closing the week’s trading at N135 and has appreciated by 263.88 per cent in the last one year.
The oil marketing firm was listed on the Nigerian Exchange on January 1, 1978, as Chevron Oil Nigeria but changed its name to MRS Oil Nigeria in 2009.
SOURCE: PUNCHNG
