Online fashion giant Boohoo has handed almost 1,400 of its employees shares in the company.
The Manchester-headquartered business, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM, confirmed a total of 1,387 of its employees are taking part in the Save As You Earn (SAYE) share scheme for 2021.
In a statement, Boohoo said the scheme was open to all employees, "giving them the opportunity to participate in the future growth of the company via share option arrangements".
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Eligible employees were invited to subscribe for options over ordinary shares of 1p each in the firm with an exercise price of 154.48p, representing a 20% discount to the closing middle market price of the ordinary shares on October 6, 2021, the day before the invitation to participate was made.
These options have a contract start date of December 1, 2021 and are exercisable between December 1, 2024 and May 31, 2025.
Boohoo added that a total of 6,144,989 options over ordinary shares were issued on November 1, 2021 equating to 0.48% of the current issued share capital.
The move comes after the business announced its half-year revenue surged to almost £1bn as it doubled its market share in the UK and US since the start of the pandemic but profits plunged following heavy investment during the year.
Boohoo reported an increased in revenue for the six months to August 31, 2021, from £816.5m to £975.9m but its pre-tax profits fell from £68.1m to £24.6m.
It added the hit to its profits included increased shipping costs, which were £26m higher than pre-pandemic levels.
