FrieslandCampina, IGI, Food Concepts shares open to trade on NASD OTC platform

FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc, and Food Concepts Plc are now open to trade on the NASD OTC platform, BusinessDay can confirm.

To aid in the process of determining prices of their shares, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc has submitted its 2011 annual report to this new and alternative market.

Also sighted at the NASD OTC market includes the five-year financial summary (2005 to 2009) of Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc; while Food Concepts Plc submitted its 2012 annual report.

BusinessDay learnt from an operator in this market that pricing of these securities would be determined by registered brokers who will later approach the registrars who are custodians of these shares.

Trading on these securities comes barely three weeks after the take-off of NASD plc Over-The-Counter (OTC) platform which assures transparency in transfer of ownership in unlisted equities.

Following the formal launch of NASD OTC platform, deals began on this market which offers an opportunity to buy and sell non-listed securities in an organised and transparent market.

Unlike a traditional exchange, NASD OTC market does not have a trading floor. Instead, it is a virtual market via two platforms. The first is an internet based bulletin board –christened BITS (Bilateral Interdealer Trading System) and the second is a hosted platform leased from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) – X-stream – and both systems can be accessed from any part of the world.

Being an over-the-counter market, any investment instrument that has been approved by the stock exchange for public consumption can be traded on NASD OTC platform. It is expected to open up with equities and bonds, many of which are currently being traded on the black or grey market.

In the 2nd phase, it will have capacity to trade on commercial paper and in the third phase it shall trade more complex instruments as required by the market. As an OTC market, NASD platform shall always remain flexible to accommodate new instruments and asset classes.

“The mission of NASD as an over-the-counter market is to fuel economic growth in the West African sub-region by developing and operating active markets that adhere to the highest standards of performance and principles of integrity whilst also creating value for stakeholders and the investing public,” Bola Ajomale, managing director/CEO, NASD, had said.

He also noted that it will offer investors a platform from where they can obtain information on available investments that are not listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

This information includes prevailing prices/or last deal price on a security that they are interested in, new and exciting opportunities to invest in an expanded range of asset class to choose from. It will also provide financial performance of non-listed companies and corporate governance of companies that hitherto might not be in the public domain.

Details of the 2011 annual report of FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc showed that its turnover rose by 16.13 percent to N104.984 billion from 2010 level at N 90.399 billion.