VANCOUVER – Telus announced Friday that Darren Entwistle, the company’s president and CEO, has exercised his vested Telus share options, using the entirety of the net after tax gain to increase his Telus share ownership by 15,600 common shares and 110,711 non-voting shares.
Including his investment in January 2005 of 76,333 non-voting shares, Mr. Entwistle now owns 39,131 common shares and 283,947 non-voting shares for a combined total of 323,078 Telus shares.
During the last six years Entwistle “has consistently accumulated Telus shares, by: investing after tax net gains from exercising share options; reinvesting variable pay; investing from personal savings; and making regular bi-weekly purchases through the employee share purchase plan. He has not sold any Telus shares, except through the process of exercising options to invest the net gains, since he joined the company in July 2000,” says the press release.
His combined common and non-voting share investments for the last six years are as follows:
2000/2001: 5,212
2002/2003: 83,656
2004: 28,791
2005: 205,419
Total: 323,078
According to Friday’s closing share price Entwistle’s shares are worth about $15.1 million.
“To the best of Telus’ knowledge, Mr. Entwistle is the largest individual shareholder of Telus and among institutional investors he is now the 65th largest holder of Telus non-voting shares and the 82nd largest holder on a total share basis. Mr. Entwistle’s large personal investment in Telus is a vote of confidence in Telus and its future,” says the company.
Between September 6 and September 13, Entwistle exercised 150,000 common share options at a grant price of $39.82 and 396,111 non-voting share options at grant prices of $34.88, $24 and $14.86. He sold 134,400 common shares at an average price of approximately $46 and 285,400 non-voting shares at an average price of approximately $45. After paying the exercise price and allocating funds to pay income taxes associated with these transactions, an amount equivalent to the after tax stock option gain was invested in its entirety in Telus shares as noted above.
