CBN disqualifies 41.65m shares in Access Holdings rights issue

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Yemi Cardoso

The Central Bank of Nigeria has disqualified 41.65 million shares worth N822.60m in Access Holdings Plc’s recently concluded rights issue.

In a corporate notice filed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Wednesday, the disqualified shares, linked to five applicants, were flagged for reasons stated in the Capital Verification Report.

“41,650,447 shares from five applicants among the 24,100 acceptances, valued at N822,596,328.25 were disqualified by the Central Bank of Nigeria for reasons stated in the Capital Verification Report. Therefore, 18,755,158,972 shares valued at N370.41bn were accepted having been confirmed as valid and verified by the CBN,” the statement read.

Despite the disqualification, Access Holdings reported a successful rights issue. Out of 24,181 applications received for 18.82bn shares valued at N371.77bn, 18.76bn shares worth N370.41bn were verified as valid and accepted by the CBN.

“The shares allotted regarding the rights issue represent 100 per cent of the shares on offer,” the company added. The rights issue, which offered 17.77bn shares at N19.75 per share, was oversubscribed by 5.76 per cent,” the allotment notice added.

The company provided a breakdown of the rights issue which showed that 21,141 shareholders fully accepted their provisional allotments, totalling 5.59 billion shares worth N110.45bn.

Additionally, 10,889 shareholders applied for an extra 10.63 billion shares, while 9.64 billion rights were fully renounced.

Furthermore, 2,324 shareholders partially accepted their provisional allotments, taking up 395.65 million shares worth N7.81bn. Meanwhile, 635 subscribers purchased 2.14bn shares through traded rights on the Nigerian Exchange, valued at N42.26bn.

Access Holdings also disclosed that 68.43 million shares worth N1.35bn were invalidated due to non-compliance with the terms of the offer or disqualification by the CBN.

The company emphasised that its rights issue marked a significant milestone in its efforts to strengthen its capital base and maintain its leadership in the Nigerian banking sector.

The PUNCH reported that Access Holdings Plc’s gross earnings increased to N3.4tn in the first nine months of this year, driven by a rise in interest income.

Access Holdings’ rights issue of 17,772,612,811 Ordinary Shares of 50 Kobo each at N19.75 per share, based on one new ordinary share for every two Ordinary Shares held as of June 7, 2024, opened on July 8, 2024 and closed on August 23, 2024.

In the nine months under review, Access Holdings, which is the parent company of Nigeria’s largest bank by asset, Access Bank, revealed that its gross revenue rose by 114.5 per cent year-on-year from N1.6tn in 2023 to N3.4tn in 2024.