The Board of Directors of Ponsse Plc has approved two new Ponsse Group’s share-based incentive plans. A stock exchange release regarding the incentive plans has been published on 3 March 2023. The aim of the new plans is to align the objectives of the shareholders and plan participants for increasing the value of the company in the long-term, to retain the participants at the company, and to offer them competitive reward schemes that are based on earning and accumulating the company’s shares.
The CEO plan consists of five performance periods, calendar years 2023, 2023-2024, 2023-2025, 2024-2026 and 2025-2027. A restriction period is included in performance periods 2023 and 2023-2024, which begins from the reward payment and ends on 31 December 2025. The matching reward will be paid by the end of May 2024, 2025, and 2026. The matching shares delivered as a matching reward cannot be transferred during a restriction period that will end on 31 December 2025, 31 December 2026, and 31 December 2027. The performance-based reward will be paid by the end of May after the end of each performance period. The shares received as reward based on performance periods 2023 and 2023-2024 cannot be transferred during the restriction period, i.e. 31 December 2025. The amount of rewards to be paid based on the performance periods that began in 2023 will correspond to an approximate maximum total of 75,000 Ponsse Plc shares, also including the portion to be paid in cash (gross reward).
The key employee plan consists of three performance periods, each lasting for three calendar years, performance periods 2023-2025, 2024-2026 and 2025-2027. The matching reward will be paid in 2023, 2024 and 2025 after the acquisition of the investment shares and confirmation of reward, as soon as practically possible. The matching shares delivered as a matching reward cannot be transferred during a restriction period that will end on 31 December 2025, 31 December 2026, and 31 December 2027. The performance-based reward will be paid by the end of May after the end of each performance period. The share acquisitions for the first performance periods began on April 28, 2023, and ended on July 12, 2023. The number of shares acquired totaled 16,500.
During the financial year, the cost effect of the share-based incentive plans was approximately EUR 0.7 million. For the restriction periods that started in 2023, the total cost effect of the share-based incentive plans is estimated to be around EUR 2.0 million in the years 2023-2025.
During the financial period 2021, the Group implemented the restricted share plan, where the reward is based on the participant’s valid employment or director contract and the continuity of the employment or service during a restriction period. The 24-month restriction period of the system ended in 2023 and accordingly, 3,000 company shares were paid as a reward. The expenses were distributed over the entire period, of which the 2023 portion is EUR 56 thousand.