30
May 2024
Block Energy
Plc
("Block"
or the "Company")
Issue of Options and Shares;
PDMR Dealing
Related Party
Transactions
Issue of Bonus & Long-Term Incentive
Options
Block operates a performance related
bonus scheme ("Scheme") for senior executives within the Company.
Awards under the Scheme are determined by the Remuneration
Committee ("RemCom") and typically made in February for the
previous year. Awards can be made in cash, shares or by the issue
of nil cost options, as determined by the RemCom.
After a review of performance
against established Key Performance Indicators, the RemCom has
determined that, for the financial year ended 31 December 2023
("FY2023"), bonus awards are to be awarded to a Director, two PDMRs
and a member of staff. Following consultation with the Director,
two PDMRs and member of staff, the RemCom has elected to settle the
bonuses by the issue of 22,607,850 nil cost options with 20,945,032
nil cost options being to Directors/PDMRs ("Bonus Options") over
ordinary shares of 0.25p each ("Ordinary Shares").
The number of nil cost options has been determined
by dividing the respective bonus by the volume weighted average
price ("VWAP") of the Company's Ordinary Shares for January 2024,
which equals 1.0598p per Ordinary Share.
Additionally, under its Long-Term
Incentive Plan, the Company issued options over a total of
8,301,887 ordinary shares of 0.25p each ("LTIP Options") to a PDMR.
The LTIP Options have an expiry date ten years from the date of
grant, vest by one-third in each of the first, second and third
anniversaries of the calendar year from the date of grant with an
exercise price of 1.325 pence per share, which was the closing
mid-market price of the ordinary shares on the trading day
preceding the issue.
The Bonus Options and Long-Term
Incentive Options issued to Directors and PDMRs are set out in the
table below:
Name
|
Position
|
Number of Bonus Options
granted
|
Number of LTIP Options
granted
|
Resulting total options held
over Ordinary Shares
|
Paul
Haywood
|
Chief
Executive Officer
|
14,861,751
|
0
|
76,809,783
|
Guram
Maisuradze
|
Chief
Operating Officer (PDMR)
|
2,416,627
|
0
|
7,416,627
|
Fergus
Robson
|
Commercial Manager (PDMR)
|
3,666,654
|
8,301,887
|
12,963,566
|
Related Party Transactions
In the previous financial year to 31
December 2022 ("FY2022") awards under the Bonus Scheme were made in
February 2023.
For FY2023, the level of bonus
awards have been finalised in May 2024. The RemCom has elected to
pay bonuses for FY2023 by the issue of nil cost, Bonus Options
using the January 2024 VWAP (being 1.0598p per Ordinary Share), for
the calculation of the number of Bonus Options awarded.
The Company's closing mid-market
share price was 1.225 pence per Ordinary Share at
29 May 2024.
The issue of Bonus Options to
related parties Paul Haywood and Fergus Robson have been treated as
related party transactions under Rule 13 of the AIM Rules for
Companies.
The Independent Directors, Philip
Dimmock and Jeremy Asher, having consulted with the Company's
Nominated Adviser, consider the terms of the issue of Bonus Options
to Paul Haywood and Fergus Robson to be fair and reasonable
under/given the Company's Remuneration Policy and insofar as
shareholders are concerned.
Other share issues
Additionally, on 29 May 2024, the Company allotted a
total of 2,264,648 new ordinary shares to two service providers in
lieu of cash settlement for services provided to the Company with a
total value of £24,000.
The Company has also allotted
6,455,477 new ordinary shares to the Intertrust Employee Benefit
Trustee Limited as trustee of the Block Energy plc Employee Benefit
Trust. The new Ordinary Shares were issued at par value of 0.25p.
The new ordinary shares are being issued to the Employee Benefit
Trust for the purposes of satisfying current and future grants of
share incentives to employees as part of the Company's long-term
incentive plan.
Application will be made for the
admission to trading on AIM ("Admission") for the 8,720,125
Ordinary Shares. The new ordinary shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the
existing Ordinary Shares of the Company. Admission is expected at
8.00 a.m. on or around 4 June 2024.
Total Voting Rights
Following Admission, the Company's
issued share capital will comprise 733,395,937 ordinary shares with
one voting right each. As the Company does not hold any shares in
Treasury, the total number of voting rights in the Company is also
733,395,937 and this figure of ordinary shares may for the
calculations by which they will determine if they are required to
notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the
share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance
and Transparency Rules.
For
further information, please
visit http://www.blockenergy.co.uk/ or
contact:
**ENDS**
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED
UNDER THE UK VERSION OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION NO
596/2014 WHICH IS PART OF ENGLISH LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN
(WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018, AS AMENDED. ON PUBLICATION OF THIS
ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS INFORMATION
IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
For
further information please
visit http://www.blockenergy.co.uk/ or
contact:
Paul Haywood
(Chief Executive Officer)
|
Block Energy plc
|
Tel: +44 (0)20 3468 9891
|
Neil Baldwin
(Nominated Adviser)
|
Spark Advisory Partners
Limited
|
Tel: +44 (0)20 3368 3554
|
Peter Krens
(Corporate Broker)
|
Tennyson Securities
|
Tel: +44 (0)20 7186 9030
|
Philip Dennis / Mark Antelme / Ali
AlQahtani
(Financial PR)
|
Celicourt
Communications
|
Tel: +44 (0)20 7770
6424
|
Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons
discharging managerial responsibilities ("PDMRs") and persons
closely associated ("PCA") with them.
1
|
Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely
associated
|
a)
|
Name
|
Paul Haywood
|
2
|
Reason for notification
|
a)
|
Position / status
|
CEO
|
b)
|
Initial notification
/Amendment
|
Initial notification
|
3
|
Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform,
auctioneer or auction monitor
|
a)
|
Name
|
Block Energy plc
|
b)
|
LEI
|
213800E2J8QA1J6KN415
|
4
|
Details of the transaction(s):
section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
|
a)
|
Description of the financial
instrument, type of instrument
Identification code
|
Options to acquire ordinary shares in
Block Energy plc
ISIN GB00BF3TBT48
|
b)
|
Nature of the transaction
|
Grant of share options under Bonus
Scheme
|
c)
|
Price(s) and volumes(s)
|
Price(s)
|
Volumes(s)
|
0p
|
14,861,751
|
|
d)
|
Aggregated information
|
n/a
|
e)
|
Date of the transaction
|
29 May 2024
|
f)
|
Place of the transaction
|
Outside a trading venue
|
1
|
Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely
associated
|
a)
|
Name
|
Guram Maisuradze
|
2
|
Reason for notification
|
a)
|
Position / status
|
Chief Operating Officer
(PDMR)
|
b)
|
Initial notification
/Amendment
|
Initial notification
|
3
|
Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform,
auctioneer or auction monitor
|
a)
|
Name
|
Block Energy plc
|
b)
|
LEI
|
213800E2J8QA1J6KN415
|
4
|
Details of the transaction(s):
section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
|
a)
|
Description of the financial
instrument, type of instrument
Identification code
|
Options to acquire ordinary shares in
Block Energy plc
ISIN GB00BF3TBT48
|
b)
|
Nature of the transactions
|
Grant of share options under Bonus
Scheme
|
c)
|
Price(s) and volumes(s)
|
Price(s)
|
Volumes(s)
|
0p
|
2,416,627
|
|
d)
|
Aggregated information
|
n/a
|
e)
|
Date of the transactions
|
29 May 2024
|
f)
|
Place of the transactions
|
Outside a trading venue
|
1
|
Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely
associated
|
a)
|
Name
|
Fergus Robson
|
2
|
Reason for notification
|
a)
|
Position / status
|
Commercial Manager (PDMR)
|
b)
|
Initial notification
/Amendment
|
Initial notification
|
3
|
Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform,
auctioneer or auction monitor
|
a)
|
Name
|
Block Energy plc
|
b)
|
LEI
|
213800E2J8QA1J6KN415
|
4
|
Details of the transaction(s):
section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
|
a)
|
Description of
the financial instrument, type
of instrument
Identification code
|
Options to acquire ordinary shares in
Block Energy plc
ISIN GB00BF3TBT48
|
b)
|
Nature of the transaction
|
1) Grant of share
options under Bonus Scheme
2) Award of
options under Long Term Incentive Plan
|
c)
|
Price(s) and volumes(s)
|
Price(s)
|
Volumes(s)
|
1) 0p
2) 1.325p
|
3,666,654
8,301,887
|
|
d)
|
Aggregated information
|
n/a
|
e)
|
Date of the transaction
|
29 May 2024
|
f)
|
Place of the transaction
|
Outside a trading venue
|