June 20, 2012/ NSE

Ceo’s Speech at the Listing by Introduction of Fortis Microfinance Bank Nigeria Plc on the Nigerian Stock Exchange
 

Distinguished members of the High Table, Chartered Stockbrokers, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, Financial Analysts, Fund Managers.

It is a great pleasure to welcome our esteemed guests, the Board and Management of Fortis Microfinance Bank to this special event in the history of their company.

It is worthy to note that Fortis MFB is the 1st microfinance bank to be listed this year and the 2nd MFB (out of over 600 licensed by the CBN) to list on The Nigerian Stock Exchange; the first being NPF Microfinance Bank that listed on the 1st of December 2010 with 2.3bn Ordinary Shares of 50k each at N1.50 per share. The listing added N3.43bn to the Market Capitalization of The Exchange.

We are quite glad to report that the other MFB listed on The Exchange has consistently paid dividends on a yearly basis and despite the tough economic circumstances and the equally tough banking sector in which they are listed, they have continued to outperform some established commercial banks.

We are quite optimistic that Fortis MFB will also do very well in the Nigerian Capital Market.

It is no mean feat that FortisMFB has taken a strategic step to join the prestigious club of quoted companies in Nigeria and I once again commend them for this bold step. I will use this opportunity to call on other MFBs who are undecided on whether to list their shares on The Exchange to make up their minds -as there are significant benefits to be derived from being a listed company.

Some of the difficulties Microfinance Banks currently face include: lack of adequate skills set by operators for effective service delivery; lack of proper corporate governance and management structure, inefficient internal controls and poor credit administration; and, lack of adequate capital base leading to insufficient loanable funds. To this end, NSE GM, Listing Sales and Retentionpresented a paper at this year’s AGM of the National Association of Microfinance Banks and called on the banks to consider listing on The Exchange as the rigors of listing will address the various shortcomings mentioned. We expect to see an increase in the number of MFBs listing on the Exchange following CBN’s capitalisation requirement for nationwide coverage.

Today, The Nigerian Stock Exchange is Listing by Introduction 1,630,091,000 Ordinary Shares of 50 kobo each of Fortis Microfinance Bank at N5.00 per share. The listing today will add N8.15 billion to the Market Capitalization of The Exchange. It will also increase the visibility of the MFB and differentiate it as one with high corporate governance standards, having met NSE listing criteria.

I congratulate the Chairman of Fortis MFB, Mr. Felix Achibiri, Fortis MFB MD/CEO, Mr. Kunle Oketikun and other members of your Board for making the decision to list at this auspicious time when all hands must be on deck to reposition our market.

I implore the bank to adhere strictly to all post-listings requirements of The Nigerian Stock Exchange and also use this occasion to urge all stakeholders in our market to continue to do their part to further facilitate the growth of the Nigerian economy.

Oscar Onyema
Chief Executive Officer