Johnston Press's Fry picks up £1m recruitment deal share options

JOHN Fry, the new chief executive of Johnston Press, which owns The Scotsman, has been awarded share options worth £1 million as part of the deal agreed when he joined the company. Yesterday, Johnston Press announced it had awarded five million shares to Fry, who left rival Archant to take up the role in January. Based on last night's closing price, the share options, which are subject to performance criteria and will vest in 2012, are worth £1m.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, Johnston Press said: "The award to John Fry is a one-off award and was made to facilitate his recruitment as the new chief executive of the company."

It said the shares had been awarded on terms "largely the same" as those in the firm's existing performance share plan.

Johnston Press also made conditional share awards to members of its group management board under the plan.

Besides the shares given to Fry, five other senior executives were awarded a combined 2.3 million shares. Subject to the achievement of the performance criteria, the share awards will vest with the directors at no cost in three years' time.

Earlier this week, Johnston Press revealed that it had been granted two months' breathing space to renegotiate its debt covenants with its banks.

The company hopes to announce new debt agreements when it unveils its interim results in August.

Shares in the company rose a quarter of a penny to 20p yesterday.