By Akanimo Sampson
Corporate organisations operating in Nigeria are being urged to take advantage of the bond windows on the Nigerian Exchange to raise capital for business expansion.The wise counsel is coming from Cardinal Stone Partners Limited. Group Managing Director of the company, Michael Nzewi, said this at the listing of its N5 billion bond with a digital closing gong ceremony organised by the NGX on Thursday in Lagos.Ranked among the top 10 brokers in Nigeria, Cardinal Stone Securities Limited (CSSL) is a wholly owned securities trading subsidiary of Cardinal Stone Partners Limited that offers an attractive bouquet of investment services to its clients. CSSL is a full-fledged dealing member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and registered with the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a broker/dealer. It is also registered with FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange as a dealing member and the NASD OTC Securities Exchange as a participating institution.The company services a diverse base of local and international clientele, providing them access to Equities, Fixed Income and International Currency products to meet their investment objectives.
However, the debut listing was the Cardinal Stone Financing SPV Plc.’s N5 billion, five-year series 1 bonds under the company’s N10 billion debt issuance programme.
Nzewi who described the listing as a milestone said the company would work on getting more companies to embrace the inherent opportunities in Nigeria’s capital market.
He said: “It is a particularly exciting day for us at Cardinal Stone Group because this represents a milestone that we have been on for some time as a member of the NGX, as one of our subsidiaries is a member of the NGX.
“It has always been part of the group’s vision to at some point in our progress list some of the securities in our capital structure on the exchange.
“With this debut N5 billion bond which we have just commenced, it is our dream and vision that at some point soon, we will be coming back to list some more instruments either within the Cardinal Stone capital structure or other businesses in the group.
“We are excited about this because at the beginning when we started the journey, it looked almost impossible.
“We are particularly thankful to the exchange for giving us the opportunity to list on the NGX platform and thankful to the Securities and Exchange Commission for the journey so far,” he said.
Nzewi said the company would continue to promote the exchange’s products and services available for capital raising.
The Managing Director, Cardinal Stone Asset Management, Mohammed Garuba, commended the NGX for the bond issuance programme.
“I thank the NGX for the opportunity to be here today and must give kudos to NGX for facilitating seamless remote trading over the past year; the impact is clearly seen in capital raising activities on the bourse.
“I must also congratulate the NGX on the recent launch of its campaign, The Stock Africa Is Made Of.
“It is indeed an exciting initiative as it has helped to re-engage key players within the capital market value chain.
“While a lot of focus has been on equities in the past, listing a bond is another way to not only raise capital but also improve governance within an organisation, which was our experience.
“We have learnt from this process, and are willing to support counterparts and clients who wish to embark on this journey,” Garuba said.
Olumide Bolumole, Division Head, Listings Business, NGX, said that bond listings was a platform for corporates to meet future needs across debt and equities to support business expansion.
“At NGX Ltd., we continue to provide issuers with a platform that allows them meet their strategic business objectives and it is our delight to see issuers take full advantage of our products and services to support their growth story.
“We are, therefore, excited about the successful listing of the Cardinal Stone Financing SPV Plc’s N5 billion Series I bond on the NGX platform as it creates an avenue for price discovery and liquidity for existing and new investors.
“The full subscription of the listing recorded demonstrates investors’ confidence in Cardinal Stone which now better positions the company to sustain its impressive growth in the coming years,” Bolumole said.
