The board of Airtel Africa has granted Chief Executive Officer, Raghunath Mandava, 1,409,639 shares under the Grant of performance and restricted share awards of the company’s Long Term Incentive Plan.

In the statement released by the telecommunications company in line with the Market Abuse Regulation, Mandava was granted 975,904 performance shares at £ 0.64 per unit while restricted shares of 433,735 were granted at £ 0.64 each. Bringing the to total shares to 1,408,639 and at an aggregated total cost of £ 902,169.

The transaction took place on October 30, 2020 in London, outside a trading venue.

The company said “On 30 October 2020, the Company granted the following awards over Ordinary Shares under the terms of the Airtel Africa Long Term Incentive Plan (the “LTIP”) to the following PDMRs at nil cost:

Name – Raghunath Mandava

Maximum No. of Performance Shares Receivable – 975,904

No. of Restricted Shares Receivable – 433,735

The statement added that “Under normal circumstances, awards of Performance Shares and Restricted Shares will fully vest on 30 October 2023, subject to the rules of the LTIP and the Company’s approved Remuneration Policy. Performance Shares and Restricted Shares are also subject to performance conditions.”

Airtel grew operating profit by 19.5 percent to $472 million in the first half of 2020/21, representing an increase of 28.3 percent in constant currency.

The company grew customer base by 12 percent to 116.4 million with a free cash flow of $319 million.