ASOS extends chairman's £13m share option

2nd Jul 2010 14:35

AIM-quoted online fashion retailer ASOS has extended an option agreement with its non-executive chairman Lord Waheed Alli which could provide him with a potential gain of more than £13m if it were taken up today. The agreement dated 16 January 2001 gives Lord Alli the right to acquire 1,579,657 shares within 10 years of the agreement for £200,000 in total. The option agreement will be extended to 1 January 2014. At a market price of 847p a share, the shares under option are worth £13.38m. That is equivalent to a notional gain of £13.18m if the option were exercised today. Of course, there is no certainty that the share price will be the same or higher when the option is taken up but ASOS continues to report growing profits. The option agreement includes the requirement to agree any disposal of shares with the company. Lord Alli, who is chairman of intellectual property rights owner Chorion, was appointed non-executive chairman of ASOS prior to its flotation on 3 October 2001. The placing price was 20p a share so the option shares were worth £316,000 at that point. ASOS was loss-making and revenues were less than £1m in 2000.The share price fell in the months after the flotation so the option did not get back into the money until 2004. Since then the ASOS share price has soared as the online fashion retailer has grown rapidly. ASOS, whose fashion is targeted to 16-34 year olds, said pre-tax profit increased to £20.3m for the year ended 31 March 2010 compared to £14.1m the same time a year earlier. Revenue increased to £223m from £165.4m. International sales rose 95% to £63m.ASOS is focusing on expansion in the US this year.