Chinazor Megbolu
The President, Pearl Awards Nigeria, Mr. Tayo Orekoya has hailed the resilience of companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), saying that despite the challenging environment, many of them are still perform excellently with enormous leap in bottom lines and good returns to shareholders.
Orekoya stated this at the 2019 pearl Awards Nite organised in Lagos recently. Speaking on the theme of the 2019 edition:”Celebrating Sustainable Leadership & Resilience” Orekoya said the event was recognising leaders who represent beacons of hope for the capital market.
“The 2019 Pearl Awards Nite therefore seeks to acknowledge, recognise and celebrate these corporate giants who dare to lead and win in spite of daunting challenges in the operating environment, locally and internationally. These leaders represent the beacon of hope for our Capital Market, “he said.
According to him, on the threshold of a quarter of a century celebrations, Pearl Awards has recognised and rewarded over 85 quoted Nigerian companies for outstanding operational and stock performance with 18 emerging as the overall highest awards winners of the stock market at different times.
Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, emerged the overall winner of the 2019 Pearl Awards, clinching four awards. Apart from winning the overall Pearl award, Seplat also clinched the sectoral awards for the Oil and Gas segment, Highest Net Ratio award while and its chief executive officer, Mr. Austin Avuru emerged as the CEO of the Year.
Chairman of the Board of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Nigeria, Mr. Olufemi Lijadu commended Seplat for its strict adherence to good corporate governance ethos, while thanking Pearl Awards for evolving for over two decades and remaining consistent in its drive to support the growth of the capital market.
