£22m Share Bonus For BT Staff

August 21 2006 - More than 90,000 BT employees are benefiting from one of Britain's broadest bonus schemes by each receiving shares in the company worth around £250. BT has recently awarded eligible employees shares with an overall value of about £22 million in recognition of their contribution to the company's transformation and growth. These shares will qualify for the final dividend of 7.6p per share, payable on 11 September 2006.

BT's allshare plan gives employees in 41 countries the opportunity to receive free shares once a year if the company achieves preset profitability and customer satisfaction targets. Full and part-time employees who have been with BT for more than a year are eligible. Over the past five years, employees participating in the scheme could have accumulated shares worth more than £1400.

For many years BT has also operated a savings-related share option plan (saveshare) and a monthly purchase plan (directshare) for employees, which enables those in the UK to buy BT shares on a tax advantageous basis. A similar share option plan operates for employees in some 20 other countries.

Hanif Lalani, BT group finance director, said:

"We support employee share ownership through a number of schemes. The share awards under allshare are linked to performance targets and, like any other shareholder, if BT performs successfully then employees also benefit. By encouraging our people to meet these targets, including quarterly updates on progress during the year, we help to secure BT's future as a growing business."

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