Vesting of CSOP Shares and Issue of Equity

09 May 2023

Lords Group Trading plc

('Lords', the 'Group' or the 'Company')

Vesting of CSOP Shares and Issue of Equity

Lords, a leading distributor of building materials in the UK, announces the vesting and exercise of all of the remaining options to subscribe for an aggregate of 3,021,478 new ordinary shares in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") under the Group's existing Company Share Option Plan ("CSOP") which was in place prior to the Group's IPO.  

The CSOP was put in place prior to the Group's IPO and, to ensure the ongoing retention of the CSOP participants, CSOP awards  did not vest at IPO - with CSOP awards instead continuing through the IPO reorganisation on terms similar to those originally set. 

At the time of grant, the CSOP was the Company's only incentive plan and was implemented with the intention of retaining the participants and incentivising them to deliver on the Group's key financial metrics. Following the publication of the Company's final results for the year ended 31 December 2022, an aggregate of 3,021,478 CSOP options have vested.

There are no further awards capable of vesting under the CSOP.

As a result of these vested CSOP options having been exercised in full, application has been made for the 3,021,478 new Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM, and it is expected that Admission will occur at 8.00 a.m. on or around 11 May 2023. Following Admission of the new Ordinary Shares, the Company's issued ordinary share capital will comprise 165,532,849 Ordinary Shares, none of which are held in treasury.

Therefore, following Admission of the new Ordinary Shares, the total number of Ordinary Shares with voting rights in the Company will be 165,532,849, which may be used by Shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

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Notes to editors:

Lords is a specialist distributor of building, plumbing, heating and DIY goods.  The Group principally sells to local tradesmen, small to medium sized plumbing and heating merchants, construction companies and retails directly to the general public.  The Group operates through the following two divisions:

·  Merchanting: supplies building materials and DIY goods through its network of merchant businesses and online platform capabilities.  It operates both in the 'light side' (building materials and timber) and 'heavy side' (civils and landscaping), through 26 locations in the UK.

·    Plumbing and Heating: a specialist distributor in the UK of plumbing and heating products to a UK network of independent merchants, installers and the general public. The division offers its customers an attractive proposition through a multi-channel offering.  The division operates over 16 locations enabling nationwide next day delivery service.

Lords was established over 35 years ago as a family business with its first retail unit in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire.  Since then, the Group has grown to a business operating from 45 sites.  Lords aims to become a £500 million turnover building materials distributor group by 2024 as it grows its national presence.

Lords was admitted to trading on AIM in July 2021 with the ticker LORD.L.  For additional information please visit www.lordsgrouptradingplc.co.uk.