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Savannah Resources Plc announced on 1 May 2026 the grant of a total of 10,100,000 Nominal Cost Options (NCOs) under its Equity Incentive Plan to Executive Leadership and other key individuals. These grants, representing 0.39% of issued shares, included 6,200,000 NCOs for the Short Term Incentive Plan and 3,900,000 NCOs to João Nunes under the Long Term Incentive Plan, all with an exercise price of 1.0 pence. On 30 April 2026, CEO Emanuel Proença, CFO Henrique Freire, and CCO Michael McGarty received 2,300,000, 900,000, and 700,000 STIP NCOs, respectively.
| Date | 1 May 2026 |
| Time | 07:00:06 |
| Category | Director/PDMR dealings |
| ID | 6908C |
1 May 2026
Savannah Resources Plc
(AIM: SAV) ('Savannah' or the 'Company')
Equity Incentive Plan Awards
Savannah Resources plc, the developer of the Barroso Lithium Project (the 'Project') in Portugal, one of the European Commission's 'Strategic Projects' under the Critical Raw Materials Act and Europe's largest spodumene lithium deposit, announces that upon the recommendation of the Company's Nomination and Remuneration Committee (the "Committee") it has granted share options under the Company's Equity Incentive Plan (the "Plan") which is designed to incentivise the Company's Executive Leadership and other key individuals (together, the "Participants").
2026 Grants
The Company's Nomination and Remuneration Committee undertook a review of the appropriate awards to be issued under the Company's incentive arrangements in connection with the remuneration of the members of the executive team.
Short Term Incentive Plan ("STIP") component Awards
A total of 6,200,000 Nominal Cost Options ("NCOs") were granted to Participants who elected to receive 50 per cent of their annual bonus in equity rather than cash under the STIP. The NCOs have an exercise price of 1.0 pence, vest immediately on grant, and have a term of five years.
Long Term Incentive Plan ("LTIP") component Awards
João Nunes, Operations Readiness Manager who joined the Company in 2025 was conditionally granted (with the same conditions as the LTIP Awards announced on 28 July 2025) 3,900,000 NCOs under the LTIP.
Bruce Griffin, Chair of Savannah's Nominations and Remuneration Committee, said:
"Following the annual review of the Company's remuneration framework, the Committee agreed to offer certain executive and other key staff of Savannah the opportunity to elect to receive 50 per cent of their annual bonus in equity, through the award of Nominal Cost Options. These awards are made within the existing 7.5 per cent limit of the Company's issued share capital approved for equity‑based incentives and support disciplined cash management, while further aligning the interests of the executive team with those of shareholders. In addition, and in line with the Company's long‑term incentive arrangements, the Committee approved the grant of an LTIP award to João Nunes, subject to defined performance conditions, reinforcing the focus on long‑term value creation."
Additional Information
Equity Incentive Plan Summary
The Equity Incentive Plan is designed to encourage long-term value creation for Savannah's shareholders by aligning the interests of Participants with those of shareholders. The Equity Plan allows for up to 7.5% of the Company's issued share capital to be allocated to employees. The scheme has been designed to meet the requirements of all relevant regulations and the Board believes that the Plan will incentivise Participants and support Savannah's ability to attract and retain talented individuals as the Company accelerates the development of the Project towards production.
The long-term incentive plan ("LTIP") component is a share option scheme of the kind commonly adopted by listed companies. Awards under the LTIP take the form of options ("Options") over the Company's ordinary shares ("Shares"). Vesting conditions are attached to the Options and are subject to several market standard specific exceptions.
The Equity Incentive Plan also includes a short-term incentive plan ("STIP") component, under which up to 50% of annual bonuses may be settled through the grant of Options.
Table 1 below sets out the Options which have been granted in 2026 to the Executive Leadership Team and other Participants under the Plan. The total quantity of Options being granted under the Plan is 10,100,000, which is equivalent to 0.39% of issued Shares in the Company.
Table 1 - Summary of Options being granted in 2026 and existing Options
|
Participant |
2026 STIP NCO Grant |
2026 LTIP NCO Grant |
2026 NCO Grant as % of Issued Share Capital |
Existing Options |
Total Options |
Total Options as % of Issued Share Capital |
|
Executive Leadership |
||||||
|
Chief Executive Officer |
2,300,00 |
|
0.089% |
29,100,000 |
31,400,000 |
1.220% |
|
Chief Financial Officer |
900,000 |
|
0.035% |
11,000,000 |
11,900,000 |
0.462% |
|
Chief Technical Officer (retired) |
800,000 |
|
0.031% |
9,833,2411 |
10,633,241 |
0.413% |
|
Chief Corporate Officer |
700,000 |
|
0.027% |
16,870,000 |
17,570,000 |
0.683% |
|
Sub Total |
4,700,000 |
|
0.183% |
66,803,241 |
71,503,241 |
2.778% |
|
Other |
1,500,000 |
3,900,000 |
0.210% |
28,047,2762 |
33,447,276 |
1.299% |
|
Total |
6,200,000 |
3,900,000 |
0.392% |
94,850,517 |
104,950,517 |
4.077% |
1Mr. Ferguson is treated as a "good leaver" for the purposes of his Share Options after his departure from the Company in 2025. As a consequence, Mr. Ferguson will retain 2,583,241 of the NCOs issued in 2025, with 7,616,759 NCOs cancelled. The retained NCOs will remain unvested, with final vesting to be determined following the end of the vesting period in December 2027. Share Options granted to Mr. Ferguson in 2021 remain operative.
2The Company has undertaken to convert Options granted on 30 June 2021, and which expire on 30 June 2029 into NCOs. Hence, 1,120,000 options (50 per cent exercisable at £0.0468 and 50 per cent exercisable at £0.0624) will be converted into 510,099 NCOs using a Black‑Scholes valuation of £0.0303 per Option.
PDMR Notification
Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them.
|
1 |
Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated |
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|
a) |
Name |
Emanuel Proença Henrique Freire Michael McGarty |
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2 |
Reason for the notification |
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a) |
Position/status |
Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Corporate Officer |
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|
b)
|
Initial notification /Amendment |
Initial notification |
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3
|
Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor |
|||||||||||||
|
a) |
Name |
Savannah Resources Plc |
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|
b) |
LEI |
213800UCK16HW5KKGP60 |
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|
4
|
Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted |
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|
a)
|
Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code |
nominal cost Options of 1.0 pence
ISIN: GB00B647W791 |
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|
b) |
Nature of the transaction |
Grant of options of 1.0 pence each in respect of the STIP component of the Company's Equity Incentive Plan
|
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|
c) |
Price(s) and volume(s) |
|
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|
d) |
Aggregated information
Aggregated volume
Price |
3,900,000
1.0 pence
|
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|
e) |
Date of the transaction(s) |
30 April 2026 |
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|
f) |
Place of the transaction |
Off-market transaction |
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Regulatory Information
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.
Savannah - Enabling Europe's energy transition.
**ENDS**
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For further information please visit www.savannahresources.com or contact:
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Savannah Resources PLC Emanuel Proença, CEO
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Tel: +44 20 7117 2489
|
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SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Advisor & Joint Broker) David Hignell/ Charlie Bouverat (Corporate Finance) Grant Barker/Abigail Wayne (Sales & Broking)
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Tel: +44 20 3470 0470
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Canaccord Genuity Limited (Joint Broker) James Asensio / Rory Blundell/ Charlie Hammond (Corporate Broking) Ben Knott (Sales)
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|
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Portugal Media Relations António Neves Costa (Communications Manager) |
Tel: +351 962 678 912 |
About Savannah
Savannah Resources is a mineral resource development company and the sole owner of the Barroso Lithium Project (the 'Project') in northern Portugal. The Project is the largest battery-grade spodumene lithium resource outlined to date in Europe and was classified as a 'Strategic Project' by the European Commission under the Critical Raw Materials Act in March 2025 and was approved for a Portuguese State development Grant of up to €110m in January 2026.
Through the Project, Savannah will help Portugal to play an important role in providing a long-term, locally sourced, lithium raw material supply for Europe's lithium battery value chain. Once in operation, the Project will produce enough lithium (contained in c.190,000tpa of spodumene concentrate) for approximately half a million vehicle battery packs per year and hence make a significant contribution towards the European Commission's Critical Raw Material Act goal of a minimum 10% of European endogenous lithium production from 2030. Savannah is focused on the responsible development and operation of the Barroso Lithium Project so that its impact on the environment is minimised and the socio-economic benefits that it can bring to all its stakeholders are maximised.
The Company is listed and regulated on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange and trades under the ticker "SAV".