The Nigerian Stock Exchange on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, listed five billion shares of Omoluabi Savings and Loans Plc. at 55 kobo per share on its Alternative Securities Market.
Speaking during the listing ceremony, Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, OON, CEO, The NSE, commended the State Government for making the decision to privatise the company through a divestment and eventual listing on the Stock Exchange, making the company accessible to local and global investors. “This remarkable development puts the company on a pedestal for growth and sustainability. The Exchange made a commitment to facilitate durable wealth creation and sustainability of emerging businesses in Nigeria, through the re-launch of ASeM about a year ago. We view your listing today as a realization of the value proposition of the ASeM board and an appreciation of the benefits of listing on the Exchange”, Onyema said.
In his presentation, the Chairman, Omoluabi Savings and Loans, Dr. Wale Bolorunduro, explained that the listing followed an initial public offer, which saw the company offer three billion shares at 55 kobo per share to the public. Bolorunduro said, “We believe in fundamentals of the company, we will strive hard to sustain our performance”. The belief is that the company will now have more capital to trade and lend to clients, who are the recipient of mortgage services. Omoluabi will now have the capacity to lend to people who want 10, 20 years mortgage to buy a house from four to ten million naira. So, think of a multiplier effect of increasing the shareholders’ fund, which enables you to do more business in terms of capacity as a bank; it will also enable you to attract more deposits because there is always ratio between your shareholders fund and your deposit. Now, it can take more deposit and it can also do more business” stated Bolorunduro.
According to the Executive Director Business Development of The NSE, Mr Haruna Jalo-Waziri, the ASeM Board allow issuers, especially indigenous companies the opportunity to inject relatively low cost and long term capital into their businesses through flexible rules that recognize their growth potential rather than the size of their operations. “Omoluabi Savings & Loans Plc. is the first listing on the board since its official launch in 2013, hence a remarkable achievement by The Nigerian Stock Exchange”.
