News: SYR Syrah Resources appoints Shaun Verner as CEO, page-8

extract from The Australian...

Syrah largesse

Graphite developer Syrah Resources has found another way to upset some of its long-term backers.

Syrah last week announced it had promoted its general manager of sales and marketing, Shaun Verner, to managing director. The appointment ended a tumultuous period triggered by the sudden resignation of founding MD Tolga Kumova last October.

The latest upset is over the long-term incentive structure that will see Verner issued with
one million share options. The options can be exercised at a 30 per cent premium to its current trading level any time in the next three years.

Veteran Credit Suisse analyst Michael Slifirski wasn’t impressed, noting that the terms of the LTI implied the board believes an annual return of just over 9 per cent a year is adequate.

Most notably, should Syrah return to the $6.05-per-share level at which it raised $194 million last June, Verner’s LTI will represent a $1.8m bonus. That’s a bit rich for investors who took shares under that raising and have since seen the value of their investment roughly halve.

And as Slifirski noted, it seems an extravagant incentive for an internal candidate.

The analyst’s ECM brothers on the other side of the Credit Suisse “Chinese Wall” may not exactly be happy with him speaking out. Credit Suisse was the lead manager on the June raising.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/bus...g/news-story/02e3af0072fcd324a3022c25951b98da