Seplat Energy Plc as part of its Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) will reward its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operations Officer (COO), and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with a total of 3,139,250 shares as part of their performance bonus for 2024.
These shares will be vested in respect to the 2024 financial year, however, it will be awarded on December 31, 2026, if all conditions are met.
According to a corporate disclosure signed by Seplat’s company secretary, Edith Onwuchekwa, the CEO, Roger Brown will receive 1,567,196 ordinary shares, the COO, Samson Ezugworie will receive 908,876 ordinary shares, and the CFO, Eleanor Adaralegbe will receive 663,178 ordinary shares.
The company also awarded 253,543 and 102,384 ordinary shares to its CEO and COO, respectively on May 28, 2024, as “Deferred Share Awards” for the company’s 2023 performance. These shares were awarded as part of their 2023 annual performance bonus.
It is noted that 25% of the annual performance bonus for 2023 was converted into these share awards, and these shares will not be accessible until December 31, 2025. Essentially, both Roger Brown and Samson Ezugworie must remain with Seplat until December 31, 2025, for the shares to vest.
Details of the Shares Award
The shares awarded to the chief officers are dependent on meeting specific performance targets related to Total Shareholder Return (TSR).
An overall assessment of the company’s performance will be conducted to serve as an additional check, ensuring that the company’s performance metrics support the vesting of the awards.
The recipient must remain employed by the company throughout a three-year performance period starting from January 1, 2024. And this three-year performance period runs from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2026.
After the shares are awarded, meaning the performance targets and employment conditions are met, there is an additional two-year holding period. During this period, recipients must retain the vested awards before they can fully utilize or cash them out.
What you should know
Recall that on May 17, 2024, Seplat Energy Plc finally awarded 4,006,167 shares, worth about N11.87 billion to its CEO, Roger Brown. The shares given to Roger Brown were a summation of the total shares vested on Brown between 2014 and 2022, as part of the company’s long-term incentive plan announced in 2014.
Originally, the vested shares were 4,943,445 ordinary shares. However, the company had to withhold 937,278 shares to settle personal income tax liabilities that arose due to the vested shares.
Essentially, the summation of all the shares vested on the company’s CEO, Roger Brown from 2014 till 2024 will be 5,826,906, representing 1% of the company.
Seplat Energy generally has one of the highest renumerations for its directors, as the group incurred an expense of N4.569 billion on directors’ emoluments in 2023, representing a 29% increase from the N3.55 billion spent in FY 2022.
On June 3, 2024, Seplat closed with a share price of N3,365.50, as the stock has appreciated 45.7% in 2024.