Director/PDMR Shareholding

RNS Number : 4131K

Connect Group PLC

13 December 2018

 

Connect Group PLC

Director/PDMR Shareholding

Connect Group PLC (the "Company") announces that it has been notified of the following transactions in the Company's ordinary 5p shares undertaken by directors / persons discharging managerial responsibility:

Connect Group Long Term Incentive Plan FY2019-2021 ('LTIP')

The following awards were granted as conditional awards, where a participant will receive an allocation of shares following the normal vesting date, subject to the extent to which the applicable performance conditions have been satisfied and their continuing employment.

As indicated in the Company's FY2018 Directors' Remuneration Report, the Company confirms that the vesting of the LTIP award will depend on the achievement of the following performance conditions:

Performance period	Adjusted Earnings Per Share (Adjusted EPS) in final year of performance period	Aggregate cash-flow from operations over three years	Proportion exercisable
Three years ending 31 August 2021	Below 9.8p	£125m	Zero
	9.8p	£125m	20%
	Between 9.8p and 12.3p	Between £125m and £150m	20%-100%
	12.3p or more	£150m or more	100%

The Company has considered carefully the level of target performance and the corresponding performance range for each measure to ensure that they are sufficiently stretching and promote long-term sustainable success.  Whilst the performance ranges are lower than those set for the LTIP awards made in FY2017, recognising the scale of the prior year under performance and the degree of challenge contained in the Group's recovery plan, both target ranges are set at a level higher than the FY2018 financial results and exceed the Company's assessment of analyst consensus at the present time.

The vested shares will be subject to a holding period of two years from the vesting date and subject to customary malus and clawback events.  The value of any dividends accrued, in the form of dividend equivalents, will normally be paid in shares at the end of period (third anniversary) based on the number of vested shares and will also be subject to the holding period of two years from the vesting date.

No consideration was paid for the grant of the award. For the purposes of this award, the grant was made at a share price of 36.025p.

Name of Participant	Form of Award	Normal Vesting Date	Maximum Number of Shares
Jos Opdeweegh	Conditional award	The day following the end of the performance period on which  the performance Conditions have been assessed and notified to the Participant	1,249,132
Tony Grace	Conditional award	The day following the end of the performance period on which  the performance conditions have been assessed and notified to the Participant	818,875
Jonathan Bunting	Conditional award	The day following the end of the performance period on which  the performance conditions have been assessed and notified to the Participant	404,319

As noted in the Company's FY2018 Directors' Remuneration Report, the LTIP grant levels for Jos Opdeweegh and Tony Grace are equivalent to 100% of base salary at grant, which was agreed as part of their joining terms.  For Jonathan Bunting the award represents a scale-back of 50% of the usual award of 100% of base salary.

The relevant notifications set out below are provided in accordance with the requirements of Article 19 of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Jos Opdeweegh
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Executive Director, Chief Executive Officer
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial Notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Connect Group PLC
b)	LEI	2138004033ONVOOQXB02
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 5p shares
	Identification code	ISIN: GB00B17WCR61
b)	Nature of the transaction	Award of conditional award pursuant to the Connect Group PLC Long Term Incentive Plan
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)
			Price(s)	Volume(s)
			36.025p	1,249,132
d)	Aggregated information	n/a single transaction
	- Aggregated volume
	- Price
e)	Date of the transaction	13 December 2018
f)	Place of the transaction	Grant of the award took place outside of a trading venue

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Tony Grace
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Executive Director, Chief Financial Officer
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial Notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Connect Group PLC
b)	LEI	2138004033ONVOOQXB02
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 5p shares
	Identification code	ISIN: GB00B17WCR61
b)	Nature of the transaction	Award of conditional award pursuant to the Connect Group PLC Long Term Incentive Plan
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)
			Price(s)	Volume(s)
			36.025p	818,875
d)	Aggregated information	n/a single transaction
	- Aggregated volume
	- Price
e)	Date of the transaction	13 December 2018
f)	Place of the transaction	Grant of the conditional award took place outside of a trading venue

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Jonathan Bunting
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Executive Director, Chief Executive Officer of Smiths News
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial Notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Connect Group PLC
b)	LEI	2138004033ONVOOQXB02
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 5p shares
	Identification code	ISIN: GB00B17WCR61
b)	Nature of the transaction	Award of conditional award pursuant to the Connect Group PLC Long Term Incentive Plan
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)
			Price(s)	Volume(s)
			36.025p	404,319
d)	Aggregated information	n/a single transaction
	- Aggregated volume
	- Price
e)	Date of the transaction	13 December 2018
f)	Place of the transaction	Grant of the conditional award took place outside of a trading venue

Adele Duff

Deputy Company Secretary 

 

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