The Nigerian Stock Exchange has said that it is set to reduce the listing requirements for companies seeking to raise capital from the Exchange.

This, according to the NSE, is part of its plans to deepen activities and encourage more participation in the capital market.

A statement made available to our correspondent on Friday, stated that the NSE was proposing three-year financial records as against the five-year record which was previously required for listing.

The statement added that companies with foreign technical partners could even be considered for listing with a one-year financial record.

“To allow for more flexibility, any company having a profit after tax of N300m within three years or N600m in one year of operation would be allowed to list on the Exchange,” it stated.

The statement added that the regulators were targeting telecoms companies, international oil companies and private companies that have long operated in the country.

“We strongly believe that once this step is achieved as stated in the NSE transformation agenda, Nigerian market would strongly trail South African and present more opportunities for foreign participation,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, equity trading activities on the NSE witnessed an upward trend on Thursday, as the major market indices gained significantly.

The market capitalisation of the listed equities gained 0.15 per cent or N10bn from N6.552tn on Wednesday, to close at N6.562tn.

Similarly, the NSE’s All-Share Index was up by 0.15 per cent or 31.13 basis points to close at 20,822.00 points, up from 20,790.87 points recorded the previous day.

The NSE-30 Index also rose by 0.3 per cent or 2.76 basis points from 935.36 points to 938.12 points on Thursday, while the NSE Banking Index was up by 0.9 per cent or 2.67 basis points to close at 278.60 points from 275.93 points the preceding day.

However, the NSE Food/Beverages Index fell marginally by 0.2 per cent from 1,686.82 points to close at 1,683.32 points, while the Oil/Gas Index fell from 212.70 points to 210.63 basis points.

Source: Punch/Udeme Ekwere