KONE has a share-based incentive plan for the company’s senior management, comprising of approximately 40 individuals.
The potential reward is based on the annual growth in both sales and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT). The reward is to be paid as a combination of class B shares and the cash equivalent of the tax and taxable benefit costs that are incurred. The plan prevents participants from transferring the shares during the fifteen-month period following the termination
of each earning period. In April 2009 totally 195,264 class B shares were granted to the management as reward due to achievement of the targets for year 2008. Respectively totally 311,386 class B shares will be granted in April 2010 due to achievement of the targets for year 2009.
Authority to purchase own shares
The Shareholders’ Meeting held on February 2009 authorized the Board of Directors to repurchase and redistribute the company’s own shares.
The shares may be repurchased in order to develop the capital structure of the Company, finance or carry out possible acquisitions, implement the Company’s share-based incentive plans, or to be transferred for other purposes or to be cancelled. Altogether no more than 25,570,000 shares may be repurchased, of which no more than 3,810,000 may be class A shares and 21,760,000 class B shares, taking into consideration the provisions of the Companies Act regarding the maximum amount of its own shares that the Company is allowed to possess.
The class B shares can be purchased at public trading in the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Oy at the market price. The class A shares shall be purchased outside public
trading at the price equivalent to the average price of class B shares paid in the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Oy at the time of purchase.
During the 2009 and 2008 financial years KONE did not repurchase own shares.