The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disqualified 41.65 million shares worth N822.60 million in Access Holdings Plc’s recently concluded rights issue.
In a corporate notice filed on Wednesday with the Nigerian Exchange Limited, the disqualified shares were linked to five applicants and flagged based on findings in the Capital Verification Report.
“41,650,447 shares from five applicants among the 24,100 acceptances, valued at N822,596,328.25, were disqualified by the Central Bank of Nigeria for reasons stated in the Capital Verification Report. Therefore, 18,755,158,972 shares valued at N370.41bn were accepted, having been confirmed as valid and verified by the CBN,” the notice stated.
Despite this, Access Holdings declared the rights issue a success. Out of 24,181 applications for 18.82 billion shares valued at N371.77 billion, 18.76 billion shares worth N370.41 billion were verified and accepted.
“The shares allotted regarding the rights issue represent 100 per cent of the shares on offer. The rights issue, which offered 17.77 billion shares at N19.75 per share, was oversubscribed by 5.76 per cent,” the company announced.
The breakdown of the rights issue showed that 21,141 shareholders fully accepted their provisional allotments, totaling 5.59 billion shares worth N110.45 billion. Additionally, 10,889 shareholders applied for an extra 10.63 billion shares, while 9.64 billion rights were fully renounced.
Partial acceptance was recorded from 2,324 shareholders, who took up 395.65 million shares worth N7.81 billion. Meanwhile, 635 subscribers purchased 2.14 billion shares through traded rights on the Nigerian Exchange, valued at N42.26 billion.
Access Holdings also noted that 68.43 million shares worth N1.35 billion were invalidated due to non-compliance with the terms of the offer or disqualification by the CBN.
The company described the rights issue as a significant step in strengthening its capital base and maintaining its leadership in Nigeria’s banking sector.
Additionally, Access Holdings reported a surge in gross earnings, rising 114.5% year-on-year to N3.4 trillion in the first nine months of 2024, driven by higher interest income.
The rights issue, offering 17.77 billion Ordinary Shares of 50 Kobo each at N19.75 per share, opened on July 8, 2024, and closed on August 23, 2024. It was based on one new share for every two Ordinary Shares held as of June 7, 2024.
