Employee Share Incentive Plan

RNS Number : 3924S

Smart Metering Systems PLC

23 September 2014

 

Smart Metering Systems plc

("SMS" or "the Company")

 Employee Share Incentive Plan

Smart Metering Systems plc (AIM: SMS.L), the integrated metering services company that connects, owns, operates and maintains current generation and new advanced metering assets and databases, is pleased to announce that it launched a Share Incentive Plan ("SIP") to all eligible employees, with an anticipated first purchase date of 26 September 2014.

The purpose of the SIP is to provide its employees with the opportunity to acquire ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the Company ("Shares") in a tax-effective way. Approval for the SIP has been obtained from HM Revenue & Customs under Schedule 2 to the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003.

The SIP is constituted by a Trust Deed and Rules. It will be administered by MM&K Share Plan Administration ("MM&K"), which is independent of the Company. MM&K will also be the Trustee of the SIP.

The SIP allows for UK based employees to acquire Shares in the open market in three different ways:

Partnership Shares

Employees may choose to contribute up to £1,800 each tax year (up to a limit of 10% of their taxable earnings) by deduction from their pre-tax salary. An employee may authorise monthly deductions of up to GBP 150 per month or make a one-off contribution of up to £1,800 in a single month. The contributions are used by MM&K, as Trustee, to purchase Shares on the open market as soon as practicable after they have been deducted.

Matching Shares

For every Partnership Share bought with employees' contributions, the Company may award the employees one Matching Share. These Matching Shares are purchased by MM&K on the open market at the same time as the corresponding Partnership Shares, using funds provided by SMS.

Dividend Shares

If SMS pays a dividend to shareholders, all the Shares held on behalf of SIP participants attract a dividend. The money is used to buy more Shares and these are referred to as Dividend Shares. Dividend Shares are subject to a three year holding period.

Rights of participants over Shares

Employees immediately become the beneficial owners of the Shares acquired for them or awarded to them under the SIP, however the Shares are initially held in Trust. Employees may instruct MM&K to sell their Partnership Shares or transfer them into their own names at any time, but Matching Shares will normally be forfeited if an employee takes the corresponding Partnership Shares out of the SIP within three years of the acquisition date.

Matching Shares (and any Dividend Shares) must normally be left in the SIP for at least three years after the award date.

All Shares must be taken out of the SIP immediately if the participant ceases to be employed by SMS or an associated company. Any Matching Shares awarded in the previous three years will be forfeited unless the participant has left employment in certain special circumstances, including injury, disability, retirement, redundancy, TUPE transfer, and death.

Participants can instruct MM&K how to exercise their voting rights over shares held for them in the SIP.

For further information please contact:

Smart Metering Systems plc Alan Foy, Chief Executive Officer Glen Murray, Finance Director	0141 249 3850
Cenkos Securities Neil McDonald Beth McKiernan	0131 220 6939 / 0207 397 8900
Kreab Gavin Anderson Natalie Biasin Matthew Jervois	020 7074 1800

Notes to editors

About Smart Metering Systems

Established in 1995, Smart Metering Systems plc, based in Glasgow, connects, owns, operates and maintains metering systems and databases on behalf of major energy companies.

Currently the Company is concentrating its efforts on offering its unique integrated services to the UK industrial and commercial gas market in which its customers have an 80% market share.

The Company has further applications for gas with its ADM™ device which allows "smart" functions such as remote reading and half-hourly consumption data to be offered to customers in addition to the normal metering services.

SMS expanded its services into the electricity market through the acquisition of Utility Partnership Limited in April 2014. The Company can now provide a fully integrated service from beginning to end to cover the installation of a gas/electricity supply/connection to the procurement, installation and management of a gas or electricity meter asset to the collection and management of customer data and ongoing energy management services. Longer term the Company also has additional applications for water and LPG.

The Company was admitted to the AIM market in July 2011 and is now part of the FTSE AIM 50 index. For more information on SMS please visit the Company's website: www.sms-plc.com.

 

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