Misys chief executive sees payout prospects rise with share price
Lawrie’s payout prospects were in the balance earlier this month – the price dipped to 212.5p on 3 October – but Misys shareholders approved a buyback at the company’s annual meeting on 28 September. The company insists the buyback “is unrelated” to the executive share plan.
The banking software group on Friday announced that it had bought 4,265 ordinary shares at an average price of 257.29p. Today, the price continued to climb, up 3% to 265.4p.
Lawrie bought £500,000 of shares with his own money when he joined to replace Kevin Lomax with a brief to turn the business around. He was given four times this in matching shares. To get the maximum payout, Misys shares had to stay above 400p for 20 consecutive trading days.
That target was reached this summer, when talk of a bid by US payment processor Fidelity Information Systems sent the price skywards. After Fidelity walked away, the shares fell 20% to 286p, the biggest intraday decline since October 2006.
With just seven more trading days to go, and the stock markets enjoying a modest rally, Lawrie’s payout looks safer than it did at the start of October.