ABUJA – Nigeria’s securities regulator has ordered the suspension of Oando’s annual shareholder meeting due to be held on June 11, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The regulator said in a statement the suspension was due to ongoing litigation.
The SEC in 2017 ordered a probe into Oando following complaints of corporate governance failures and financial mismanagement. Ernst & Young, auditors for the company said last month there was material uncertainty about the energy firm’s ability to continue as a going concern as liabilities exceeded current assets.
Oando’s debt rose to $2.5 billion after acquiring oil and gas assets from U.S. giant ConocoPhillips, increasing finance costs and stalling growth. The company said last year it targets paying down the debt by 90 percent by the third quarter of this year.
The shares slumped 9.7 percent to 4.20 naira at the close of trading in Lagos on Friday. The stock is down 16 percent this year.