Last checked at 2 Oct 2008 15:58
| 02 October 2008 |
Proton Power Systems plc
("Proton Power" or "the Company")
Proton Power (AIM: PPS), the designer, developer and producer of fuel cells and fuel cell electric hybrid systems, announces that, pursuant to a share option scheme approved by the Board of Directors on 1 October 2008, it has today granted options over ordinary shares in the capital of the Company, at an exercise price of 10 pence each, to the following directors of the Company:
| Director | No. of options |
| Thomas Melczer – Chief Executive Officer | 1,000,000 |
| John Wall – Chairman | 500,000 |
| Ali Naini – Vice chairman | 500,000 |
| Benedikt Eska – Chief Operating Officer | 100,000 |
| Achim Loecher – Finance Director | 100,000 |
Options granted are exercisable after two years from the date of grant and subject to achieving certain individually defined operational and financial performance targets and to final board approval.
Save for the above, the directors' beneficial interests remain unchanged and as previously announced.
An additional 1,300,000 options, on the same terms as above, have also been approved by the Board for other non board level and non applicable (as defined in the AIM Rules) employees.
- ENDS -
For further information:
| Proton Power Systems plc | |
| John Wall, Chairman | Tel: +44 (0) 78 0291 7615 |
| Ali Naini, Deputy Chairman | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7329 1750 |
| Thomas Melczer, CEO | Tel: +49 (0) 89 127 626 599 |
| www.protonpowersystems.com |
| Arbuthnot Securities Limited | |
| Tom Griffiths / Antonio Bossi | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7012 2000 |
| www.arbuthnotsecurities.co.uk |
Media enquiries:
| Abchurch Communications Limited | |
| Heather Salmond / Justin Heath / Monique Tsang | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700 |
| monique.tsang@abchurch-group.com | www.abchurch-group.com |
Notes to Editors
Proton Power Systems plc is a developer and manufacturer of fuel cells and fuel cell hybrid systems for motive and stationary power supply. Its sales-driven strategy focuses on identifying applications with the greatest market needs and supplying large volumes of cost-competitive systems to fulfil those needs. Proton is targeting a global opportunity, accessing a broad range of markets through partnerships with leading OEMs such as Skoda Electric and Karmann.
Motive applications include forklifts, city buses, municipal utility vehicles and ferries; 'back-to-base' markets which can readily utilise the modularity and scalability of the Company's hydrogen fuel cell systems, and which do not depend on the existence of a ubiquitous hydrogen infrastructure, thereby facilitating swift commercialisation.
Stationary applications focus on the Uninterruptible Power Supply sector, where there is a large demand for mission-critical, grid-independent secure power supply in places such as telecommunications stations, data centres, hospitals, and power substations. Further market potential lies in industrial and chemical processing plants, where the otherwise wasted hydrogen by-product can be harnessed for producing local power.
Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH ("Proton Motor"), the Group has developed and produced a fuel cell module that can be integrated with energy storage media to create a hybrid fuel cell system. A proprietary, intelligent energy management software balances the power output across the fuel cell storage unit(s) to maximise efficiency and improve power delivery. The system thus boasts lower fuel consumption and more consistent levels of power delivery than conventional diesel/combustion engine or fuel cell-only systems, in addition to producing zero harmful emissions.
Proton Power Systems plc was admitted to trading on AIM on 31 October 2006 and is incorporated in the UK. Proton Motor has more than 15 years of experience in the fuel cell market and is located in Puchheim, near Munich, Germany, where its manufacturing facility is based.