The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has exonerated itself from delays associated with the issuance of share certificates to investors, putting the blame on the doorstep of registrars of the quoted companies.  

Speaking in Lagos on Tuesday during the review of the performance of the capital market in the year 2007, the Director-General of the NSE, Professor (Mrs.) Ndi-Okereke Onyiuke disclosed that the NSE along with other regulatory authorities have contributed their own quota to ensure that the delay is addressed, but that the only lapse remaining is on the part of the registrars.

She said, “in a bid to reduce the delay in the issuance of share certificates for new bank issues and others, there was a tripartite agreement between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the NSE for the apex bank to cancel the pre-allotment verification exercise. The apex bank agreed, and it is expected that the delay has been addressed.

However, the only factor that will hinder the successes we hope to have achieved is the issue of the registrars. They are overwhelmed by a lot of work and they seem not prepared for the huge growth of capital market.”

She noted that the registrars have not fully adjusted their operations in line with the growth recorded in the capital market, leading to their being over-burdened with lot of work. She decried the failure of the registrars handling the issues and registrar functions of most of the quoted companies to upgrade their information technology infrastructure to meet up with the demands of the numerous shareholders of their clients.

“Despite the delay which arose as a result of their activities, it is not the fault of the registrars, because they never anticipate the surge of investors embracing the capital market. This surge, which came suddenly, overwhelmed them and made it to look as if they are not doing much.

They can still perform better if they concentrate on improving on their services,” she noted. She called on other regulatory authorities to compel the registrars to upgrade their facilities to enable them meet up with the high demands and the increased workload that is expected as a result of the increased awareness of the capital market by investors.

She advised the registrars to employ more staff members that are competent, pay them well and give them adequate motivation and a conducive environment to perform their duties effectively and efficiently. Meanwhile, First Bank of Nigeria Plc emerged the most capitalised company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for the year 2007.

Its market capitalisation stood at N889.08 billion, beating Intercontinental Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc to second and third most capitalised companies respectively. Intercontinental Bank Plc followed with a market capitalisation of N752.6 billion, United Bank for Africa Plc recorded N558.87 billion and Zenith Bank Plc notched a market capitalisation of N533.81 billion.

Other highly capitalised companies for the year end include: Union Bank Nigeria Plc N498.62 billion, GTBank Plc N479.63 billion, Oceanic Bank International Plc N435.41 billion, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc N389.5 billion, Nigerian Breweries Plc N370.57 billion, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated N292.25 billion among others.