Hibernia Reit CEO Nowlan gets €2m of bonus stock

Hibernia Reit's chief executive Kevin Nowlan was the main beneficiary from the first batch of shares issued as bonus payments linked to a deal last year to move management of the property company's assets internally.

Mr Nowlan this week received €2 million of shares issued as a performance fee at a price of €1.2899 each, the average price over the 20 days before the end of the company’s financial year in March. The stock has risen by about 4 per cent in value since then.

In total, the chief executive now owns 5.82 million shares valued at almost €.83 million in the company, equating to a 0.85 per cent stake, according to a filing with the Irish Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

Frank Kenny, a senior adviser to Hibernia Reit, non-executive director William Nowlan and Frank O'Neill, the company's chief operations officer, also received stock this week to settle a performance fee relating to the move in November to "internalise" management of the company.

The company had previously said in its annual report that the sellers of the management company were to share a €5.1 million performance fee for the financial year.

The shares were in addition to an initial €21.1 million of payments tied to Hibernia Reit taking over its previously external property management team and a related company, Nowlan Property Ltd.

Under the performance-based payment for the last financial year, Mr Kenny received 1.05 million shares, which were worth €1.35 million in March. William Nowlan received 787,611 shares and Mr O’Neill was given 315,044 shares.

Hibernia holds a Dublin-centric property portfolio valued at €928 million. This includes four office blocks on Harcourt Street that house the regional Garda headquarters in the capital, over which Hibernia is in a legal battle aimed at getting vacant possession for redevelopment.

The company said last month it sees itself well positioned for any activity that may move from the City of London to Dublin in the coming years following the Brexit referendum. The company's joint venture development on Windmill Lane with US investment firm Starwood Capital is due to be completed next year and a neighbouring project on Sir John Rogerson's Quay will be finished by mid-2018.

Shares in the company have risen by 4.2 per cent since UK voters decided to quit the EU.

Meanwhile, Hibernia’s main rival, Green Reit, whose property portfolio includes the Central Park office-to-apartments development in Leopardstown in Dublin, continues to have its assets managed externally. The company paid a €20.9 million “performance fee” for the year to the end of June last year to Green Property Reit Ventures.