Rogers 2015 Annual Report Download - page 134

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
RESTRICTED SHARE UNITS
The RSU plan allows employees, officers and directors to
participate in the growth and development of Rogers. Under the
terms of the plan, RSUs are issued to the participant and the units
issued vest over a period of up to three years from the grant date.
On the vesting date, we will redeem all of the participants’ RSUs in
cash or by issuing one Class B Non-Voting share for each RSU. We
have reserved 4,000,000 Class B Non-Voting shares for issue under
this plan. We granted 683,095 RSUs in 2015 (2014 – 1,088,951).
Performance RSUs
We granted 114,979 performance-based RSUs in 2015 (2014 –
313,291) to certain key executives. The number of units that vest
and will be paid three years from the grant date will be within 50%
to 150% of the initial number granted based upon the
achievement of certain annual and cumulative three-year non-
market targets.
Summary of RSUs
The table below is a summary of the RSUs outstanding, including
performance RSUs.
Years ended December 31
(In number of units) 2015 2014
Outstanding, beginning of year 2,765,255 2,472,390
Granted and reinvested dividends 798,074 1,402,242
Exercised (822,972) (828,645)
Forfeited (255,952) (280,732)
Outstanding, end of year 2,484,405 2,765,255
Unrecognized stock-based compensation expense as at
December 31, 2015 related to these RSUs was $41 million (2014 –
$48 million) and will be recognized in net income over the next
three years as the RSUs vest.
DEFERRED SHARE UNIT PLAN
The DSU plan allows directors, certain key executives, and other
senior management to elect to receive certain types of
compensation in DSUs. Under the terms of the plan, DSUs are
issued to the participant and the units issued cliff vest over a period
of up to three years from the grant date.
Performance DSUs
We granted 443,139 performance-based DSUs in 2015 (2014 – nil)
to certain key executives. The number of units that vest and will be
paid three years from the grant date will be within 50% to 150% of
the initial number granted based upon the achievement of certain
annual and cumulative three-year non-market targets.
Summary of DSUs
The table below is a summary of the DSUs outstanding, including
performance DSUs.
Years ended December 31
(In number of units) 2015 2014
Outstanding, beginning of year 826,891 700,912
Granted and reinvested dividends 1,324,169 125,979
Exercised (257,677) –
Forfeited (122,512) –
Outstanding, end of year 1,770,871 826,891
Unrecognized stock-based compensation expense as at
December 31, 2015, related to these DSUs was $26 million (2014 –
$2 million) and will be recognized in net income over the next
three years as the executive DSUs vest. All other DSUs are fully
vested.
EMPLOYEE SHARE ACCUMULATION PLAN
Participation in the plan is voluntary. Employees can contribute up
to 10% of their regular earnings through payroll deductions (up to
an annual maximum of $25,000). The plan administrator purchases
our Class B Non-Voting shares on a monthly basis on the open
market on behalf of the employee. At the end of each month, we
make a contribution of 25% to 50% of the employee’s contribution
that month, and the plan administrator uses this amount to
purchase additional shares on behalf of the employee. We
recognize our contributions made as a compensation expense.
Compensation expense related to the employee share
accumulation plan was $38 million in 2015 (2014 – $38 million).
EQUITY DERIVATIVES
We have entered into equity derivatives to hedge a portion of our
stock-based compensation expense (see note 16) and recognized
a $22 million gain (2014 – $10 million loss) in stock-based
compensation expense for these derivatives.
132 ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS INC. 2015 ANNUAL REPORT