richard cottee appointed managing director, page-3

In today's Sydney Morning Herald.

SKILLS TRANSFER

The oil and gas explorer Nexus Energy is heaping praise on the achievements of its chief executive of three months Richard Cottee, who was given a board seat yesterday. ''His knowledge and strategic skill set complements our existing team, and we are pleased to have him as our managing director with a clear short- to medium-term focus of putting Nexus back on a strong footing,'' it said yesterday.

The company, which recently received a breather from its noteholders, seems to be praying that Cottee has the same luck at Nexus as he did at Queensland Gas, which was taken over by BG Group for $5.6 billion two years ago. Cottee made more than $30 million selling his stake to BG. Not bad compared with his $810,000 base salary.

As part of his contract at Nexus, Cottee has been granted 2.25 million options with a zero exercise price. They will be exercisable if Cottee stays at Nexus until mid-2013 and are subject to the performance of Nexus shares. Nexus shares rose 0.5 to 28.5 yesterday.