LAGOS, MAY 4, 2018 – Diamond Bank Plc has sought for another extension of the timeline for the submission of its audited report and accounts for the immediate past business year after the commercial bank failed to meet the initial extended deadline of April 30, 2018.
In a regulatory filing yesterday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Diamond Bank stated that it was unable to issue its audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017 within the extended deadline of April 30, 2018 as earlier indicated to the investing public.
The bank stated that the audited financial statement “is still undergoing review” and expressed optimism that “the review process will be concluded within May 2018”.
“Thereafter, this will be transmitted to the Exchange and made available to the public. We will also like to notify you that the release of 2018 first quarter financial statement will follow the transmission of 2017 audited financial statement in short order,” the filing signed by Company Secretary and Legal Adviser, Diamond Bank, Uzoma Uja, stated.
Post-listing rules at the NSE require quoted companies to submit their audited earnings reports, not later than three months or 90 calendar days after the expiration of the period. The deadline for submission of annual report for companies with Gregorian calendar business year ended December 31, 2017 was March 31, 2018.
Diamond Bank had sought extension till April 30, 2018 but failed to meet the extended deadline. The Nation had reported exclusively that Diamond Bank was one of the companies already marked out by the NSE for regulatory sanctions following delay in the submission of the audited report and accounts of the companies for the immediate past business year.
Under the rules at the Exchange, a late submission attracts a fine of N100,000 per day for the first 90 calendar days of non-compliance, another N200,000 per day for the next 90 calendar days and a fine of N400,000 per day thereafter until the date of submission.
Diamond Bank recently signed a preliminary agreement to sell its United Kingdom (UK)’s banking operations, Diamond Bank UK, in another major divestiture aimed at narrowing down the commercial bank’s operations to its domestic Nigerian market.
Diamond Bank signed a Share Sale and Purchase Agreement with a member of GFG Alliance, for the disposal of its entire shareholding in Diamond Bank UK. Completion of the transaction is subject to approval from the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulatory Authority – the regulators responsible for banking in the UK.
The bank stated that the disposal was in line with its “objective of streamlining its operations to focus resources on the significant opportunities in the Nigerian retail banking market”. The latest transaction follows the bank’s divestment from its West African business, Diamond Bank S.A., which was completed in November 2017. Diamond Bank SA’s operations covered Benin, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal.
