In continuation of announcement no. 7/2009 dated 21 April 2009, the
Board of Directors today made an agreement with the company's
Executive Board regarding a revised incentive programme (see
announcement no. 6/2009) as a result of the cancellation of the
company's share option programme from and including 2009.
Share options granted to the members of the Executive Board in 2007
and 2008 have not been cancelled.
The total amount for the redemption of the option obligation for 2009
is DKK 2 million which has been calculated applying the Black-Scholes
model. The amount will be granted to the two members of the Executive
Board and five executives of the company.
The amount, which will be recognised in the income statement in Q1
2009, will not have any impact on the outlook for 2009 in the Annual
Report 2008 dated 19 March 2009.
Following the cancellation of the company's share option programme,
share options cannot be granted in future. Conversely, the framework
for the cash performance-based bonus to members of the Executive
Board has been increased from a maximum of 33% to a maximum of 50% of
the fixed annual salary. The cash variable incentive pay will be
subject to annual negotiation.
The amount in cash variable incentive pay is granted on the basis of
the following criteria to be determined annually by the Board in
connection with the budget negotiations: 0-75 % is triggered upon the
attainment of an EBIT performance within a given framework, whereas
0-25 % is triggered upon the attainment of a specific level in
working capital. The granting of the maximum amount in cash variable
pay requires an improvement of the results to a level over and above
the announced performance targets.
The reason for the cancellation of the share option programme is the
currently prevailing unrest on the global financial markets and the
related volatility as well as the difficulties of determining a
correct and true and fair market price of the company's shares.
The Board of Directors consequently believes that it will hardly be
in full compliance with the corporate governance principles for
incentive pay to management if share options are granted to the
company's management in the current circumstances and under the
prevailing uncertainty regarding correct and true and fair pricing of
securities by the equity market.
The revised incentive programme approved by the shareholders at the
annual general meeting was posted on the corporate website on 21
April 2009.
For further information, please contact:
Erik Højsholt
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Mobile: +45 20 10 65 80
This announcement is published in compliance with clause 3.3.6, cf.
clause 3.1.3 of the Rules for Issuers of
Shares dated 1 July 2008 issued by Nasdaq OMX Copenhagen A/S.
