7 Jan 2011 15:06
For immediate release 7 January 2011
Hardy Oil and Gas plc
("Hardy" or "the Company")
Issue of Restricted Shares
Hardy Oil and Gas plc (LSE: HDY), the oil and gas exploration and production company focused in India, announces that it has issued an aggregate of 21,971 ordinary shares of US$0.01 each in the capital of the Company ("Ordinary Shares") to all of its non-executive directors, including the chairman.
Hardy's remuneration policy provides for all non-executive directors to be issued Ordinary Shares equivalent to 25 per cent of their annual cash fee on an annual basis. The Ordinary Shares are issued in consideration for services rendered in 2010 at a price of 177.5 pence per Ordinary Share, being the closing price on the day prior to issue.
The Ordinary Shares are subject to Restricted Shares Agreements whereby such Ordinary Shares will be restricted for a period of three years from the date of issue and, save in certain circumstances, will only be released if the non-executive director remains a director throughout the three year period.
Set out below is a table showing the number of Ordinary Shares of Hardy issued to each of the non-executive directors (including the chairman):
Name | Number of Ordinary Shares Issued | Number of Ordinary Shares beneficially interested in following the issue | Percentage of the issued share capital beneficially interested in following the issue |
Paul Mortimer (chairman) | 6,761 | 882,193 | 1.226 % |
Carol Bell | 5,070 | 9,106 | 0.013 % |
Pradip Shah | 5,070 | 673,541 | 0.936 % |
Ian Bruce | 5,070 | 444,892 | 0.618 % |
Total | 21,971 | 2,009,732 | 2.793 % |
Application has been made today to the UK Listing Authority and to the London Stock Exchange for the new Ordinary Shares, to be admitted to the Official List maintained by the UK Listing Authority, and to be admitted to trading by the London Stock Exchange on its market for listed securities. It is expected that admission of the Ordinary Shares will become effective on or around 13 January 2011.
Immediately following admission the total issued share capital of the Company will be 71,944,504 Ordinary Shares, each with equal voting rights.
For further information please contact:
Hardy Oil and Gas plc | 020 7471 9850 |
Yogeshwar Sharma, Chief Executive Dinesh Dattani, Finance Director | |
Arden Partners plc | 020 7614 5917 |
Richard Day | |
Steven Douglas | |
Buchanan Communications | 020 7466 5000 |
Mark Edwards Ben Romney |
NOTES TO THE EDITORS
Hardy Oil and Gas plc is an upstream oil and gas company focused in India. Its portfolio includes a blend of exploration, appraisal, and production assets. Hardy's goal is to evaluate and exploit its asset base with a view to creating significant value for its shareholders.
Hardy Oil and Gas plc has existing production from an offshore field in India's Cauvery basin. Hardy also has interests in four offshore exploration blocks in India's Saurashtra, Cauvery, and Krishna Godavari basins, and one onshore exploration block in the Assam Basin.
Hardy is incorporated under the laws of the Isle of Man and headquartered in London, UK. Ordinary shares of Hardy were admitted to the Official List and the London Stock Exchange's market for listed securities effective 20 February 2008 under the symbol HDY.
The Company's Indian assets are held through the wholly owned subsidiary Hardy Exploration & Production (India) Inc, located in Chennai, India.
For further information please refer to our website at www.hardyoil.com