Fidelity Bank Plc (NGX: FIDELTYBK) has notified the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), its shareholders and the general public that it will audit its financial statements for the half year period ending June 30, 2023.
- Also read;
- List of Dividends announced in 2023, qualification and payment dates
- CBN announces changes to Foreign Exchange Market
In a notification released on the Exchange on Thursday, the bank stated that upon the completion of the audit, the Audited Financial Statements (AFS) for the half year ending June 30, 2023 shall be presented to the Central Bank of Nigeria for approval.
The notification went further to say that after the approval of the apex bank, the AFS will be published in compliance with the provisions of the Nigerian Exchange Limited’s Rule Book and other relevant statutes/regulations.
The bank stated that it expects to publish the audited financial statements on or before August 29, 2023.
It went further to announce the closing of trading window for dealing in the Bank’s shares to its insiders and their connected persons.
The closed period shall be from July 1, 2023, until 24 hours after the release of the audited financial statements for th half year ended June 30, 2023.
What is a closed period?
The closed period is the time between the completion of a listed company’s financial results and the announcing of these results to the public.
It is typically regarded as the one-month period preceding the release of a company’s quarterly results, and the two-month period before the release of its annual results.
According the Nigerian Exchange Rule Book, “no Director, person discharging managerial responsibility and Adviser of the Issuer and their connected persons shall deal in the securities of the Issuer when the trading window is closed. Any period during which trading is restricted shall be termed as a closed period.”
The Rule mandates all issuers to notify The Exchange in advance of the commencement of each closed period.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur