Aer Lingus boss will get €900,000 worth of IAG share options
Stephen Kavanagh, the CEO of Aer Lingus, has been awarded over 110,000 share options at the airline’s new owner, IAG.
The shares are currently worth close to €900,000 (£639,000), but won’t start vesting until the end of 2017 and are not exercisable until the end of 2019.
They will be awarded at no cost to Mr Kavanagh (pictured), as long as specific performance measures are met.
IAG, which acquired Aer Lingus this year for €1.36bn, said the final outcome of the award will be assessed following the three-year performance period that ends on December 31 2017.
Mr Kavanagh made about €700,000 before tax on the sale of his shares in Aer Lingusto IAG.
IAG, which also owns British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, said that the final grant to Mr Kavanagh is dependent on three measures.
Those measures are the total shareholder return for IAG relative to the MSCI European Transportation Index; earnings per share; and return on invested capital.
In November, IAG raised its target for return on invested capital to 15pc between 2016 and 2020. The return on invested capital at Aer Lingus was 5.8pc last year, compared to 7.9pc at IAG.
Shares in IAG were trading at £5.82 in London yesterday, valuing it at £11.6bn (€16bn).
Aer Lingus formed in 1936 is the national flag carrier airline of Ireland. It operates a fleet of 47 modern Airbus aircraft and carries over 10.6 million passengers per annum on mainline and Regional franchise services. Aer Lingus commenced contract flying services in 2013 serving domestic UK services between London Heathrow and Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Manchester on behalf of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited.
