Scirocco Energy Regulatory News (SCIR)

31 December 2020

Scirocco Energy plc

("Scirocco" of "the Company") 

Appointment of Corporate Broker and Director / PDMR Shareholdings

Scirocco Energy (AIM: SCIR), the AIM investing company targeting attractive production and development opportunities within the European energy market, makes the following announcement in respect of the appointment of a sole corporate broker and of a disclosable transaction carried out by one of its Directors on 30 December 2020.

Appointment of a sole Corporate Broker

Scirocco is pleased to announce the appointment of WH Ireland Limited ("WH Ireland") as Corporate Broker to the Company, effective immediately.

Directors Salaries and Operating Costs update

To continue to preserve cash within the Company, the Board has agreed to extend the Director Options plan, announced on 2 July 2020, granting nominal cost options to Non-Executive Chairman Alastair Ferguson and Non-Executive Director Jon Fitzpatrick through to 31 December 2021. To date, no Board member has been paid in cash since March 2020.

The extension of the Directors Option plan to year-end 2021 will save the Company £144,000 in cash by part settling the 2021 Non-Executive Directors fees through the issue of nominal cost options. The decision further aligns the Board with the performance of the Company and is a core component of the Board's highly disciplined focus on costs.

The Board has worked hard to ensure that the business has reduced its cost base in line with its current level of activity and is estimating a baseline FY2021 corporate overhead of c.£500,000 (excluding exceptional expenses and contingencies). The Company's ongoing requirements will be reviewed on or around 30 June 2021 to ensure that the business continues to have access to the appropriate ongoing financial, technical, commercial and operational support to meet its future activities and stated objectives.

As at today's date, the Company has in excess of US$3.6 million in cash and near-term equivalents. Additionally, the Company has access to a committed US$1 million tranche (and up to a further undrawn US$3 million under certain conditions) under the Cash Facility Agreement that the Company entered into with Prolific Basins LLC in June 2020.

Grant of Option to Mr Alastair Ferguson

The Company has granted a nominal cost option over 2,783,295 new ordinary shares of 0.2p each in the Company ("Shares") to Mr Alastair Ferguson, who is a director of the Company (the "Option"). The Option has been granted to Mr Ferguson in lieu of the directors' fees due to him over the period from 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2021.

For the calendar year 2020, Mr Ferguson has been paid £9,000 in cash for his work as Non-Executive Chairman with all other fees and salaries to be commuted into Shares under the Option. Further Shares shall accrue under the Option on a month-by-month basis by reference to Directors' fees due to Mr Ferguson for the relevant month over the remainder of the period to 31 December 2021.

Other than the period over which Mr Ferguson's Directors' fees may be accrued as Shares, the terms of the Option are materially similar to the terms of the options granted by the Company to each of its directors and members of the Executive Management team (excluding Mr Ferguson) on 29 June 2020 (and announced by the Company on 2 July 2020).

An appropriate Notification of Dealing Form in respect of the Option can be found below.

For further information:

This announcement is not for publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States of America. This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale into the United States. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act"), or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States. The securities may not be offered or sold in the United States, except pursuant to an applicable exemption from or in a transaction not subject to the registration requirements of the Securities Act and in compliance with any applicable securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States. No public offering of the securities is being made in the United States. 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR").