9th Jan 2007 18:21
Serica Energy plc09 January 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 9 January 2007 SERICA ENERGY PLC ANNOUNCES EXERCISE OF SHARE OPTIONS BY DIRECTORS AND AN INCREASE IN DIRECTORS' HOLDINGS OF 360,000 ORDINARY SHARES London, January 9, 2007 - Serica Energy plc (TSX Venture: SQZ; AIM: SQZ) ("Serica" or the "Company") announces that on 8 January 2007 Antony Craven Walker(Chairman), Paul Ellis (Chief Executive), Neil Pike and Jim Steel (non-ExecutiveDirectors) increased their beneficial shareholdings in the Company by a total of360,000 ordinary shares. On 8 January 2007 Antony Craven Walker exercised 200,000 share options and NeilPike and Jim Steel each exercised 100,000 share options. All options wereexercised at the exercise price of Cdn$1.11 per share. In order to meet thecost of the options Antony Craven Walker sold 43,698 of the resultant ordinaryshares at £1.04 per share (Cdn$2.376) to his pension fund and Jim Steel sold25,000 of the resultant ordinary shares at £1.04 per share (Cdn$2.376). Theseordinary shares were acquired by the pension fund of Paul Ellis. Neil Pike hastransferred the legal and beneficial interest in 40,000 ordinary shares to othermembers of his family for no consideration. As a result of these transactions the total beneficial shareholdings of theDirectors of the Company has increased by 360,000 ordinary shares and theincreased beneficial interests of the Directors in the Company are: Director Previous No. of Increased No. of % Change No. of Ordinary Shares Ordinary Shares Ordinary Shares Antony Craven Walker (Chairman) 4,565,626 4,765,626 +4.4%Paul Ellis (Chief Executive) 250,000 275,000 +10.0%Neil Pike (Director) 290,000 350,000 +20.7%James Steel (Director) 45,950 120,950 +163.2% Consequently the total number of issued shares in the Company has increased to150,937,955 ordinary shares. All of these shares have voting rights and noneare held in Treasury. Therefore, the total number of voting shares in theCompany is 150,937,955 ordinary shares and this figure may be used byshareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they willdetermine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to theirinterest in, Serica under the FSA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. Application has been made to AIM for the admission to trading of the 400,000ordinary shares of US$0.10 each in the Company resulting from the exercise ofthe options. These new ordinary shares issued rank equally with the existingordinary shares of the Company. Enquiries: Serica Energy plcPaul Ellis, [email protected] +44 (0)20 7487 7300Chief Executive OfficerChris Hearne, Finance Director [email protected] +44 (0)20 7487 7300 Pelham Public Relations -UKJames Henderson [email protected] +44 (0)20 7743 6673Alisdair Haythornthwaite [email protected] +44 (0)20 7743 6676 CHF Investor Relations - CanadaJan Moir [email protected] +1 416 868 1079Heather Colpitts [email protected] +1 416 868 1079 Background Notes Serica Energy plc is an international oil and gas exploration company withoperations in Indonesia, the UK North Sea, Spain, Ireland and Vietnam. TheCompany's ordinary shares are listed in London on AIM and on the Canadian TSXVenture Exchange under the symbol "SQZ". The 2005 Annual Report and Accounts canbe obtained from the Company's web-site www.serica-energy.com and atwww.sedar.com. Forward Looking Statements This disclosure contains certain forward looking statements that involvesubstantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyondSerica Energy plc's control, including: the impact of general economicconditions where Serica Energy plc operates, industry conditions, changes inlaws and regulations including the adoption of new environmental laws andregulations and changes in how they are interpreted and enforced, increasedcompetition, the lack of availability of qualified personnel or management,fluctuations in foreign exchange or interest rates, stock market volatility andmarket valuations of companies with respect to announced transactions and thefinal valuations thereof, and obtaining required approvals of regulatoryauthorities. Serica Energy plc's actual results, performance or achievementcould differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forwardlooking statements and, accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of theevents anticipated by the forward looking statements will transpire or occur, orif any of them do so, what benefits, including the amount of proceeds, thatSerica Energy plc will derive there from. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility forthe adequacy or accuracy of this release. To receive Company news releases via email, please contact [email protected] andspecify "Serica press releases" in the subject line. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Serica Energy