On Monday April 16, 2018, the Premium Board of The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) will admit new members following the planned migration of Access Bank Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc to the platform. The migration of the four companies is sequel to them applying and meeting the Exchange’s listing requirements for the board.
The Premium Board is the listing segment for an elite group of issuers who have met the Exchange’s most stringent corporate governance and listing standards. The Board provides a platform for showcasing companies who are industry leaders in their sectors. It also gives a company access to a global pool of investors who are particular about companies managed in conformity to the highest standards in their target markets.
To feature on the Premium Board companies must meet certain criteria which include strict adherence to international corporate governance best practices as well as the Exchange’s highest standards of capitalization and liquidity. They must also attain a minimum market capitalization of N200bn as at the date of application, obtain a minimum score of 70% on the Corporate Governance Rating System (CGRS), and maintain a minimum free float of 20% of their issued share capital or a free float value equal to or above N40 billion.
Access Bank Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc have all passed the Corporate Governance Rating System (CGRS) and have market capitalisation of N347.12bn, N378.60bn, N391.37bn and N374.48bn respectively. They will join Dangote Cement Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, and Zenith International Bank Plc who were migrated to the Premium Board in 2015, bringing the total number of companies on the Board to seven.
The Premium Board and the associated Premium Board Index were launched on Tuesday, August 25, 2015.