TheCable

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) says it has requested that MTN make its shares available for trading.

At present, shares of the telco have only been traded in negotiated or cross deals.

In a statement released on its website, the exchange expressed concerns that dealing members who have not been involved in ongoing cross deals have been unable to trade on behalf of their clients.

“Where a company lists following an Initial Public Offering, shares are expected to be available for trading on the day of listing. In a Listing by Introduction, however, no shares have been offered for subscription by the company prior to listing,” the statement read.

“Thus, without any intervention, it is possible that there will be no shares available for trading on the listing date.  Thus, in order to stimulate trading in the shares of companies that List by Introduction, the NSE’s practice is to urge the company to make shares available on the day of listing.

“In the case of MTN Nigeria, the NSE had requested the Company as part of the listing process to make shares available and The Exchange expects the company to do that.​

“Cross deals involve clients of the same Dealing Member Firm on both sides of a trade, significant issues have been raised that Dealing Members who have not been involved in the cross deals have been unable to trade on behalf of their clients.”

MTN’s shares, which was listed at N90 on Thursday, closed at N131.5 at the end of the trading day on Tuesday.