Director/PDMR Shareholding

RNS Number : 7106W

Dixons Carphone PLC

20 August 2020

 

NOTIFICATION DEALING WITH GRANT OF AWARDS UNDER THE PLAN

Dixons Carphone plc (the "Company")

Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them in accordance with the Market Abuse Regulations.

Awards under the Dixons Carphone plc Long Term Incentive Plan 2016

On 19 August 2020, the following awards over ordinary shares of 0.1 pence in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") were granted under the Dixons Carphone plc Long Term Incentive Plan 2016 ("LTIP"):

Name of Director / PDMR	Base Salary for Award (£)	Award Reference Value (£)	No. of Ordinary Shares under Award	Vesting Date	Exercise Price
Alex Baldock	867,000	1,734,000	1,991,959	19 August 2023	Nil
Jonny Mason	479,400	958,800	1,101,436	19 August 2023	Nil

The share price for the Awards (each a nil cost option) was calculated using the mid-market price on the 10 July 2020, being 87.05p. 

Calculation of the number of Shares subject to an Award

As was described in the 2020 Directors' Remuneration Report, the Remuneration Committee determined it appropriate to scale back the number of shares awarded this year to the Executive Directors from the normal award level of 250% of salary.  This decision was taken in light of recent falls in the share price, both prior to and since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and in response to shareholders' feedback on this matter last year; however we also took into account the strong recovery in the share price since last year's award was made and up to the onset of the pandemic.  Based on this evidence, the Committee determined that Executive Directors' awards should be scaled back by 20% (i.e. to 200% of salary).

The Committee chose to delay the grant of these awards to allow time for a clearer picture to emerge on our emergence from lock-down and to gauge the market expectation of the long-term performance of the business.   In order to ensure that this delay did not result in an undue benefit or penalty to participants, the Committee set the number of shares to be awarded under the LTIP using the share price on 10 July 2020 (87.05p).   It re-confirmed this decision on the day prior to grant (being 18 August 2020) when targets were set, noting that the share price had not moved significantly in the meantime, closing on that date at 87.00p.

The number of Ordinary Shares stated above is the maximum number that could vest to each PDMR upon full satisfaction of the performance conditions attaching to the Awards.

The Awards will ordinarily vest and become exercisable on 19 August 2023 (the "Vesting Date"), subject to each PDMR's continued service with the Company and the extent to which the performance conditions applicable to the Awards are achieved. In the case of the awards granted to Alex Baldock and Jonny Mason, any Ordinary Shares which vest will be subject to an additional two-year holding period (on a net of tax basis) from the Vesting Date.

The performance conditions applicable to the Award are two equally weighted performance measures:

1)  Relative Total Shareholder Return ("TSR")

One half of each Award is subject to the achievement of a relative TSR performance condition, measured against a bespoke comparator group comprised of 21 European Special Lines Retailers and other comparable companies. The starting point for measurement will be 3 May 2020 and the closing point will be 1 May 2023 with one month averaging periods up to the beginning and end of the performance period. 25% of this portion of the Award will vest for achievement of median TSR versus the comparator group, with maximum vesting at upper quartile or above and straight-line vesting between these two points.

2)  Cumulative Free Cash Flow

The other half of the Award is subject to the achievement of a performance condition measuring the Company's cumulative free cash flow over the three-year period starting on 3 May 2020 and ending on 1 May 2023. 10% of this portion of the Award will vest if cumulative free cash flow over the three-year period is £312m, rising to 25% of this portion of the Award vesting if cumulative free cash flow over the three-year period is £368m, and with maximum vesting if cumulative free cash flow over the three-year period is £423m or higher, and straight-line vesting between these points.

As at the date of this announcement, the Company has 1,166,458,443 Ordinary Shares in issue.

Details of the full notifications received by the Company are set out below.

This announcement is made in accordance with the requirements of Market Abuse Regulation Article 19. 

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Alex Baldock
2	Reason for Notification
a)	Position/status	Group Chief Executive
b)	Initial notification/Amendment	Initial Announcement
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Dixons Carphone plc
b)	LEI	2138001E12GWLLDQQF16
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	Ordinary Shares of 0.1 pence each in Dixons Carphone plc
	Identification code	GB00B4Y7R145
b)	Nature of the transaction	Grant of a nil cost option award under the Dixons Carphone plc Long Term Incentive Plan. The award will ordinarily become exercisable three years from the date of grant, subject to the grantee's continued service and the extent to which the performance conditions applicable to the award have been met, and then may be exercised for a period of ten years from the date of grant.
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) Nil 1,991,959
d)	Aggregated information -  Aggregated volume -  Price	Not applicable - single transaction
e)	Date of the transaction	19 August 2020
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Jonny Mason
2	Reason for Notification
a)	Position/status	Group Chief Financial Officer
b)	Initial notification/Amendment	Initial Announcement
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Dixons Carphone plc
b)	LEI	2138001E12GWLLDQQF16
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	Ordinary Shares of 0.1 pence each in Dixons Carphone plc
	Identification code	GB00B4Y7R145
b)	Nature of the transaction	Grant of a nil cost option award under the Dixons Carphone plc Long Term Incentive Plan. The award will ordinarily become exercisable three years from the date of grant, subject to the grantee's continued service and the extent to which the performance conditions applicable to the award have been met, and then may be exercised for a period of ten years from the date of grant.
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) Nil 1,101,436
d)	Aggregated information -  Aggregated volume -  Price	Not applicable - single transaction
e)	Date of the transaction	19 August 2020
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

Enquiries:

Sarah Thomas  Deputy Company Secretary  [phone]

Dan Homan   Head of Investor Relations  [phone]

 

END

 

 

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