OCM forced to postpone shareholders meeting

The COVID-19 pandemic, closure of the Trinidad and Tobago’s borders and a recently imposed state-of-emergency, have led to the postponement of the annual general meeting (AGM) of shareholders of One Caribbean Media (OCM).

This is the second consecutive year that the media group has had to postpone its AGM of shareholders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Scores of OCM shareholders are Barbadians, including some with significant shareholding, as well as group employees.

Some publicly listed companies have held virtual meetings to accommodate shareholders in various jurisdictions  during the pandemic.

The media group, which is headquartered in Port-of-Spain, has tried to stage in-person meetings and this year announced what it described as a “hybrid” AGM.

In a statement issued by company secretary Karlene Ng Tang, the AGM which was originally scheduled for June 17 at the offices of Express House, Independence Square in Port-of-Spain, was postponed, and a new date is to be announced.

In a published notice recently, Ng Tang wrote: “The foregoing was done in order to comply with the usual legal and internal corporate requirements for our meetings to permit our shareholders to participate.

“Contrary to our expectations, the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic has not improved, and we are currently under a State of Emergency, with restrictions on movement as well as the gathering of persons in public and private under the current public health regulations.”

The company informed shareholders that on a new date, the AGM will be held and “no business, other than the business contained in the notice given for the annual general meeting, will be considered at the adjourned meeting”.

OCM, which owns the Nation Group in Barbados, the Express newspaper and CCN in Trinidad, along with other subsidiaries, is the region’s largest media group and is publicly traded on the Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchanges.  (IMC1)