6 Aug 2018 07:00
6 August 2018
Bahamas Petroleum Company plc
("BPC" or the "Company")
Changes to Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") contractual terms
Bahamas Petroleum Company plc, the oil and gas exploration company with significant prospective resources in licences in The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, announces a number of permanent changes to the CEO's contract which significantly reduces the basic salary, writes off accrued cash payments and ends accrual of conditional share entitlements whilst at the same time continuing to align management and shareholder interests.
Following the fall in the oil price during 2015 and general slowdown in the oil and gas sector, the CEO proposed substantial changes to his compensation package to dramatically reduce cash costs to shareholders. Since 1st April 2016, 90 percent of his compensation has been forgone to be repaid in an equal mix of cash and shares conditional on successful funding arrangements for an exploration well consistent with licence obligations.
The key terms of the new contract are:
1) No change to the term of the existing contract (as previously announced), following which a three month notice period from either party applies.
2) Headline annual salary to be reduced to $375,000, paid monthly.
3) All deferred cash entitlements, totalling approximately $1 million, to be written off.
4) No further share entitlements are to be awarded or accrued.
5) All existing share entitlements (totalling 63,567,276 ordinary shares) and options are retained whilst continuing to be conditional on successful conclusion of funding arrangements for an exploration well.
6) No future entitlement to company pension contributions. Accrued but unpaid entitlement totalling approximatly $0.2 million to be written off.
Bill Schrader, Non-Executive Chairman of Bahamas Petroleum, said:
"We consider the changes outlined to the CEO's contractual arrangements to be in the best interests of shareholders, by removing future cash obligations whilst maintaining the incentivisation of our CEO at this important and exciting time for the Company. Importantly, alignment between management and shareholders has been maintained."
The information communicated in this announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.
Ends
For further information, please contact:
Bahamas Petroleum Company plc Bill Schrader, Chairman
| Tel: +44 (0) 1624 647 883 |
Strand Hanson Limited - Nomad Rory Murphy / James Spinney
| Tel: +44 (0) 20 7409 3494 |
Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited Jerry Keen / Toby Gibbs / James Thomas | Tel: +44 (0) 207 408 4090 |
CAMARCO Billy Clegg / Gordon Poole / James Crothers | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3757 4983 |
Notes to editors:
Bahamas Petroleum Company is an oil and gas exploration company with 100% owned offshore licences exclusively focused on The Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The Company has significant prospective resources, which have been de-risked through both extensive 2D and 3D seismic. The Company is intent on delivering safe and environmentally responsible exploration.
www.bpcplc.com