.KQ to restore employee share scheme at annual meeting

KQ employees were unable to access 1.9m shares. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By JAMES NGUNJIRI

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Summary

• Kenya Airways' Esop was set up during the Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 1996.
• The scheme has been inactive and currently holds 1,970,500 shares.
• KQ has in recent years been hit by labour disputes that have eroded the trust between shareholders and workers, including pilots.

National carrier Kenya Airways is set to reinstate its employees share ownership scheme (Esop) that was suspended, leaving the staff unable to access the 1.9 million shares.

The announcement was made Sunday in a public notice calling for the company’s 41st annual general meeting (AGM) to be held on September 22.

The meeting is “to approve the establishment of the Kenya Airways 2017 Group Employee Share Ownership Scheme and the terms of the trust deed and the rules thereof,” reads the notice.

The group’s Esop was set up during the Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 1996. The scheme has been inactive and currently holds 1,970,500 shares.

Kenya Airways has in recent years been hit by labour disputes that have eroded the trust between shareholders and workers, including pilots.

READ: KQ pilots set to earn pay based on output

By owning stock in the company, staff members including executives are exposed to the ups and downs of their performance and decisions.

Listed firms running Esops normally offer staff shares at a discount to the prevailing market price to encourage their participation in the scheme.

Last June, shareholders of self-listed Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) also registered an Esop.

Firms with Esops include ARM Cement

, EABL , Equity Bank , HFCK , I&M Bank , KCB , KenolKobil , Safaricom , ScanGroup , Car & General and Standard Group .