The board of United Bank for Africa Plc, on Monday sought the approval of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to allow it presented its audited financials for the half year ended June 30, 2018 on, or before August 29, 2018.

As part of the NSE’s post-listing requirements, companies are required to submit their quarterly results one month after the end of the period and audited full-year 90 days after (on March 31) of the following year.

The notice by Bili Odum, UBA Plc’s Group Company Secretary, also notified the exchange of its closed period, in line with Rule 17.18(b) of the NSE’s Rule Book.

The closed period is a time when its officials (board members, top management and some group of stakeholders are forbidden from trading in its shares, thereby preventing them from taking advantage of price-sensitive information at their disposal.

The notice set a closed period of Tuesday, “July 3 up until the release of UBA’s 2018 audited half year financial statements.”

It is envisaged that during the period, the financial statements would be audited, “following which we will seek the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria before its publication on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

The waiver is to avoid going against provisions of Section 1.1.3 of the Rules for filing of accounts and treatment of default filing, Rule Book of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (Issuers Rule), which states that, “An issuer that chooses, in addition, to audit its quarterly accounts shall file such accounts not later than sixty (60) calendar days after the relevant quarter.”