London-listed shipbroker Clarksons is putting stock worth £2.7m ($3.7m) up for grabs for employees.
The company said it will carry out a block listing in London of 71,303 shares of 25p each from 23 September.
The stock will be issued from time to time to fulfil options under its US and UK share purchase plans for staff.
Clarksons' shares were trading up 0.7% at £38.46 each on Wednesday.
This is up from £26 at the start of 2021 in mostly buoyant shipping markets.
Profit for the first six months of this year was up by around 30% compared with the same period in 2020.
The London-listed broker booked pre-tax earnings of £27.3m ($37.8m), compared to £20.9m in the first half of last year.
Clarksons chief executive Andi Case said the big increase in profit was “aided by a robust performance in our broking division and a strong recovery from our financial division”.
The shipbroking desks made £900,000 more profit in the first half of 2021 at £30.3m, compared to the same period last year.
Top brass rewarded
The company has also been rewarding its top two executives.
In April, new awards of share options left chief executive Andi Case sitting on a potential stake worth £19.9m.
The working shipbroker was given 8,253 restricted shares comprising the 10% deferred element of his 2020 bonus.
And Case is also getting 28,576 shares as a performance award.
Clarksons finance and operating chief Jeff Woyda was awarded 2,134 restricted shares and 18,184 performance options.
The restricted shares will vest in 2025, while the options are subject to certain performance conditions over a three-year period — and then a two-year holding period.
Case already had 514,458 Clarksons shares, or a 1.69% stake, and restricted shares and options bring this to 2.25%.
Clarksons' share price has hit all-time highs under his and Woyda's stewardship, giving the business a total value of more than $1bn at various stages.
