C & I Leasing Plc has announced the extension of its rights issue offer period.
The company said in a notice filed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange that the offer period, which was scheduled to close on December 27, had been extended to January 13.
It said there was also an extension of trading in the C & I Leasing rights issue of 539,003,333 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N6 per share on the basis of four new ordinary shares for every three ordinary shares held as at September 4, 2019.
C&I Leasing Plc had in September submitted an application for approval to the Nigerian Stock Exchange for its proposed N3.23bn rights issue.
The Head, Listings Regulation Department, NSE, Godstime Iwenekhai, said C&I Leasing had submitted an application to the Exchange through its stockbroker for the approval and listing of a rights issue.
The Chairman, C & I Leasing, Chief Chukwuma Okolo, had in July said the company planned to inject fresh capital into its operations to boost future performance.
Okolo stated that the fresh capital would be through rights issue and conversion of Aureos $10m loan stock into equity before the end of the year.
He said the company planned to expand its operations with the proceeds of its proposed rights issue.
The company said in the term sheet of the offer that the capital raise would bolster its financial flexibility to undertake significant capital expenditure for further business expansion.
According to the term sheet, a rights issue does not have the limitations of other capital sources but will allow the company’s shareholders to increase their equity holdings at a discount.
It said this would help avoid the risk of dilution and create an avenue for capital gains for shareholders, adding that the capital raise would enable it to strengthen its financial position in order to enhance its capital structure for optimum performance, provide working capital support in a timely manner and capture potential attractive growth opportunities.
The term sheet read in part, “The four major uses of the proceeds are capital restructuring, repayment of short loans, business expansion and provision of working capital requirements as the needs arise.
“Between 2019 and 2023, we expect the total revenue for C & I Leasing to witness a steady increase from N33.67bn to N66.34bn at a compound annual growth rate of 18.48 per cent.
“This growth will be supported by increased volumes such as an anticipated rise in gross earnings in the company’s divisions in Nigeria, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates.”
It added that over the same period, net income was expected to grow by 367 per cent, following a significant increase in revenue of the business divisions and other operating income.
C&I Leasing said the anticipated rise in the company’s earnings per share from 2019 to 2022 would be followed by an increase in dividend per share from 12 kobo in 2019 to 20 kobo in 2023.
It stated that the expectation was in line with its policy to reward its shareholders from distributable profits at the end of the year.
