Victor Uzoho
The Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group), formerly The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), has posted N6.02billion income and N1.84billion surplus after tax respectively in the 2020 financial year results.
The Group said the results reflect the challenging macroeconomic and market conditions, as well as its operational resilience during the year.
This comes as its shareholders of the Group, yesterday, voted in support of the proposals to introduce equity-based incentives to employees’ remuneration and other value creation measures for shareholders.
Among these are an Employee Share Ownership Plan; Long-Term Incentive Plan; aligning the interests of internal stakeholders with those of shareholders in long term value creation.
These are the resolutions presented at its 60th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Abuja, the first to be held by the Group as a demutualised, shareholder-owned, for-profit entity for shareholders and regulatory approvals.
The historic meeting also saw the re-election of the non-executive directors, who were retiring by rotation and the election of the members of the Audit Committee. The shareholders also approved the proposed remuneration for the Board and non-executive members of the erstwhile National Council of the NSE.
Despite the global pandemic and other economic shocks, it is indeed noteworthy that we have already begun to actualise the benefits of demutualisation including the alignment of stakeholders’ interests in the value created by the new Group under a revised corporate governance framework.
Commenting, the Group Chairman, NGX Group, Abimbola Ogunbanjo, described the meeting as historic, being the first time the Group will hold its AGM outside the Exchange House in Lagos. “We have chosen the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, in recognition of the integral role the Federal Government of Nigeria played in actualising the demutualisation of NSE and its support in establishing NGX Group.
“I am both thankful for the invaluable support of our stakeholders and proud of the resilience NGX Group continues to demonstrate after over six decades. Despite the global pandemic and other economic shocks, it is indeed noteworthy that we have already begun to actualise the benefits of demutualisation including the alignment of stakeholders’ interests in the value created by the new Group under a revised Corporate Governance framework.”
Speaking on outcomes of the AGM, Ogunbanjo further stated, “We received approval of new equity-based incentive schemes for employees, which are in line with the authority granted to directors by then members of NSE at an Extraordinary General Meeting conducted in March 2020, and adhere to global best practices allowing us to attract and retain the best talent. Today, I am more confident than ever that the Group is well-positioned to deliver value to shareholders as we move into a new growth phase.”
The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, NGX Group Oscar N. Onyema, said: “We thank our shareholders for their support of the resolutions proposed at today’s meeting. Our 2020 results reflect the challenging macroeconomic and market conditions, as well as operational resilience of the Group with income and resulting surplus after tax valued at N6.02billion and N1.84billion respectively.
“In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we maintained tight cost controls, which reduced expenses by 13% despite investments in technology that allowed us to operate remotely with zero downtime. The Group ended Year 2020 in a sound financial position with net asset growth of over 10% to N31.28 billion.”
Looking ahead, he reiterated that the NGX Group and its wholly-owned subsidiaries – Nigerian Exchange Limited; NGX Regulation; and NGX Real Estate, will continue to advance the realisation its vision to be Africa’s leading integrated capital market infrastructure provider.
“As the Group progresses its plans to list on Nigerian Exchange, we look forward to welcoming a broader group of investors to share in our journey,” he added.
