NSE suspends trading on Newrest ASL Nigeria PLC shares

Following its application to delist from the Daily Official List of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and from trading on the Main Board, the Exchange has placed full suspension on trading in the shares of Newrest ASL Nigeria PLC.

The bourse, in a notification to the dealing member firms, referred to its market bulletin of February 19, 2019, through which all stakeholders were notified of the application filed by the aviation services company for the voluntary delisting of its entire 634 million ordinary shares.

“Dealing members are hereby notified that further to the Exchange’s approval of the application for voluntary delisting of the company, the shares of Newrest ASL were today, Wednesday, February 27, 2019, placed on full suspension. This suspension is required to prevent further trading in the shares of Newrest ASL, and in order for the company to comply with the post-approval requirements, which will precede the final delisting of the company from the daily official list of the Exchange,” NSE said in its statement.

The NSE said the company’s application to delist was as a result of its inability to meet up with the 20 percent free float requirement of the Exchange. It said, “in line with the provisions of Rule 1.10 of the Rules for Delisting of Equity Securities from the Daily Official List of the Exchange, which states that ‘the issuer shall set aside funds sufficient to purchase the interest of all shareholders who expressed their dissent to the resolution to delist the issuer. Such funds shall be domiciled with a registrar or a custodian that is duly registered by and in good standing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.”

NSE stated that the company’s stockbroker had informed the Exchange that it had opened and deposited sufficient funds to settle minority shareholders in an escrow account with Zenith Bank Plc to be managed by Meristem Registrars Limited, adding that dealing members would be notified of the date of the company’s delisting in due course.

Newrest Airline Services & Logistics PLC (ASL), which was established in 1996 as Airline Services & Logistics Plc before changing to its current name in 2016, provides catering and related services to airlines operating in Nigeria. It became a publicly quoted company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in July 2007.