23 Jul 2008 07:00
Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or the "Company")
Directors' Shareholding
Notification of interest - Employee Benefit Trust
Maitland Trustees Limited as trustee of the Avocet Mining Employee Benefit Trust ("EBT") informed the Company on 22 July 2008 that it had released 265,980 ordinary shares of 5p each in the Company ("Shares") to the beneficial ownership of 14 of the plan members of the EBT. These EBT shares were allocated to directors and employees of the Company for performance during the last year and in prior years as bonus shares and deferred share bonus awards. As a result of the releases Maitland Trustees Limited as trustee of the EBT now holds a total of 1,040,020 Shares, representing 0.86 per cent of the Company's issued share capital.
Maitland Trustees Limited acts as the trustee for the Company's EBT, a plan set up in order to reward directors and employees for the performance of the Company on a long term basis and to enable the Company to continue to attract a high calibre of management and operational personnel. The directors of the Company are potential beneficiaries under the EBT and are deemed to be interested in those Shares held or dealt in by the EBT for the purposes of section 324 of the Companies Act 1985. Of the 265,980 Shares released from the EBT Jonathan Henry, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, received 75,789 Shares. These were from bonus awards and deferred share bonus awards given in the 2005, 2006 and 2008 financial years. Nigel McNair Scott, the Company's Chairman, received 33,452 Shares from a bonus award given for the 2005 financial year, Non-Executive Directors, John Newman and Robert Pilkington each received 10,293 Shares and Sir Richard Brooke Bt. received 12,866 Shares from bonuses given for the 2005 financial year.
As a result of these issues the directors have increased their interests in the Company as follows: Jonathan Henry now holds 877,259 Shares representing 0.73 per cent of the issued share capital, Nigel McNair Scott now holds 6,133,452 Shares representing 5.07 per cent of the issued share capital, John Newman now holds 69,607 Shares representing 0.06 per cent of the issued share capital, Robert Pilkington now holds 214,507 Shares representing 0.18 per cent of the issued share capital and Sir Richard Brooke Bt. now holds 81,080 Shares representing 0.07 per cent of the issued share capital.
Contacts:
Alan McFarlane, Company Secretary, Avocet Mining PLC, 020 7907 9000
Richard Brown, Richard Greenfield, Ambrian Partners Limited, 020 7634 4700