Customs Street Advisors

This week on Street Talking in NEXT, I discuss the challenges small- and mid-cap companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange face in attracting and sustaining investment community attention. I conclude with a number of recommendations.

Initial public offerings and listings are very exciting events in the life of a company. Endless consulting sessions with advisers, regulatory filings, travel logistics for road shows, analyst presentations and PR campaign vetting impress on insiders that the company is crossing an historic threshold. Read More…

This week on Street Talking in NEXT, I argue for the listing of successful private companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Alright, so today’s title should have been ‘My Christmas wish list’. In fact, I got bitten by this wishful thinking bug only a few days to Christmas. On December 20, 2009, Binos Yaroe, general manager, Market Operations & IT at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, announced that its governing Council had approved the change in name of its junior board from Emerging Markets to Alternative Investment Market & Private Placements. The move, he explained, was to ‘provide incentives and waivers’ to more companies to list on the NSE. That was the fire for my wire. The only snag is that now that the festive season is over, wish lists have been put on freeze. Well, sort of. But mine is a different kind of dream gift basket. The presents are not really for me in the selfish sense of sole ownership or benefits. On the contrary, granting my wish would profit the genie as much as the kettle rubber. Read More…

In Nigeria, shareholder associations enjoy a disproportionate amount of space in most media coverage of comments on company actions and performance.  Frequently, the attributed statements of these associations’ officers are overwhelmingly positive, irrespective of the actions or performance. This can give a misleading view that the companies have the full support of shareholders. No dissent, no critique, no balance. This week in Street Talking on NEXT, I recommend three credible alternative sources of information that the press should include in its reporting on company results and plans.

Reading news stories about company results and public offerings I often wonder if they are all written by the same writer. The titles all share an uncanny familiarity. ‘Investors tickled by Company A’s FY Results.’ ‘Company C tantalizes shareholders with x kobo dividend.’ ‘Shareholders overwhelmingly laud Company E’s planned bond sales.’ Read More…

Compelling financial communications lies at the heart of every successful securities sale transaction. As the drought in developed credit markets spread to the local equity market in 2008, the competition for capital became much tighter. Now more than ever, it is vital for companies planning to raise capital to ensure that they are represented by a financial communications team that fully understands both traditional and new media channels with the contacts and credibility to initiate balanced coverage of the company pre- and post-IPO. Its goal should be to ensure that the value case for the transaction be made as clearly, succinctly and compelling as possible to the investment community. The initial public offering of Honeywell Flour, which opened on December 3, 2009, provides a good test case to examine how Nigerian companies are evolving their financial communications strategies in difficult market conditions.

Last year will go down in history as annus horribilis for investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. After years of heady growth, when public offerings succeeded more from momentum and frenzy and less on a clear understanding of the underlying business with its risks and opportunities, buyer’s remorse is the new mood of the times. Return is dead. Caution is new king.

Read More…

Richard Wadsworth and Lois Paul of Lois Paul, join Jane McCahon and Mary Conway of Conway Communications to discuss best practices in IPO communications .