EIGHTEEN companies, listed in the 33 sub-sectors of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), have been earmarked for de-listing by the Exchange's governing council.

Sources told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos that the fallout was as a result of the report the council received on 45 companies investigated by the NSE. According to sources, the governing council also ordered that the remaining 27 companies be re-investigated with a view to ascertaining their status.

One of the sources told NAN that the Exchange's move to de-list dormant companies was not a reaction to the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) investigations on alleged insider trading.

"I can only say that it is not reactionary but a pure coincidence because NSE's surveillance and investigation department had beamed its searchlight on quoted companies' operations for sometime now,'' he added.

He said the companies affected cut across aviation, textile, petroleum marketing, conglomerates, food and beverages and tobacco, healthcare and machinery (marketing).

NAN gathered that the governing council's decision to delist the companies stemmed from confirmed evidence that the companies were currently "uncomfortable" receivers from creditors.

"NSE, in its proactive self-regulatory functions, had also visited and discussed with the management of the companies before arriving at the delisting option,'' he said.

Meanwhile, NAN also gathered that the council has accepted in principle new conditions before dealers could move equity prices above or below five per cent margin allowed in daily transactions.

Under the new conditions, dealers must now have 100,000 shares compared with the subsisting 15,000 shares before any daily price adjustment.

NAN recalls that SEC had only recently alleged that they were investigating high-level capital market insider trading and price manipulations.

The investigation also led to the indefinite suspension of Afroil Plc shares from NSE.

NSE's Principal Manager, Corporate Affairs, Mr Sola Oni, said that he was not aware of the governing council's decision and could not comment on the issue.