Aminex Board Alignment: Another Potential Catalyst in a Year of Delivery

What the Share Sales Show

The recent director dealings are clear enough. Tom Mackay sold his remaining ordinary shares in April 2026, while Charles Santos exercised 5 million options at 0.60p and sold the resulting shares at 2.10p in May 2026. Those transactions mean that some investors can point to limited visible ordinary share ownership among parts of the board.

That is the negative version of the argument. It is also incomplete.

Charles Santos’s May transaction was not simply a director selling shares bought in the market. It involved the exercise of compensation options previously awarded as part of the company’s remuneration arrangements. Aminex stated that the options had been awarded in lieu of salary more than four years earlier and that the exercise provided £30,000 of working capital to the company.

That context matters. The options were part of a cash-preservation structure during the long pre-production phase, not merely a speculative side holding. When a company has kept costs lean while waiting for a major asset to move into development, remuneration often has to be judged differently from a mature producer with steady cash flow.

Options Still Matter

The 2025 annual report showed that directors still held significant options at year-end. Sultan Al-Ghaithi held 10 million options at 1.00p, Tom Mackay held 36 million options across three tranches, and Charles Santos held 30 million options at 0.60p before his May 2026 exercise.

Following the May exercise, and assuming no other unreported changes, Charles Santos would still appear to retain 25 million options at 0.60p expiring in January 2027. Tom Mackay’s share sale was a disposal of ordinary shares, not a reported exercise of his option position, so his disclosed option exposure remains relevant unless and until the company reports otherwise.

That does not make ordinary share ownership irrelevant. It simply means the alignment picture is not empty. Options are still economic exposure, particularly when exercise prices sit below the current market price and expiry dates are close enough to matter.

For investors, the more useful question is therefore whether the existing option structure remains appropriate for the next phase, or whether Aminex now needs a refreshed remuneration approach as the company moves toward production.

The Cash-Conservation Context

Aminex has been clear that preservation of capital has been important. The company has operated through a long period where cash had to be protected while Ntorya moved through licensing, gas sales agreement negotiations, farm-out execution, seismic work, pipeline planning and development preparation.

That is why the remuneration issue should be seen in context. Aminex’s annual report states that salaries remain reduced and that the company intends executives and staff to be compensated through options under the plan while capital preservation remains important. The report also shows that the Remuneration Committee reviewed director and staff remuneration in December 2025 and recommended that no options be awarded during the year.

That creates a natural question for 2026. If the company is moving from the long cash-conservation phase into pipeline commissioning, production preparation and first gas, then the remuneration structure may need to evolve with it. Directors and staff are not expected to work indefinitely without appropriate salary, bonus or equity-linked incentives.

That is not a negative. It is a normal part of a company moving from development toward production.

Why the AGM May Matter

With the AGM notice expected, remuneration may become a point of interest in its own right. Investors will be watching for the usual resolutions, but they may also look for any signal about how Aminex intends to align the board and senior team for the next stage of the Ntorya story.

This should not be overstated. There is no guarantee that a new option award, long-term incentive plan or salary adjustment will be proposed at this AGM. But it would be logical for shareholders to look for signs that the company is thinking about the move from pre-production survival to execution and revenue generation.

Handled well, this could become a modest sentiment catalyst. A weakly conditioned award would not help the market. But a disciplined incentive structure linked to delivery, production, revenue, operational milestones or shareholder value could answer the “no skin in the game” criticism in a more constructive way than argument alone.

The strongest alignment would be one that rewards delivery rather than time served.

One More Catalyst in a Busy News Window

The possible AGM remuneration angle should not be viewed in isolation. It would sit alongside a much broader sequence of expected operational catalysts between now and year-end.

Aminex’s own 2025 annual report describes the near-term path as completion and commissioning of the Ntorya–Madimba pipeline, testing and hook-up of Ntorya-2, drilling and completion of Chikumbi-1, workover of Ntorya-1, and commencement of gas production and revenue flow. That is already a substantial sequence of news for a company that has spent many years waiting for physical development to begin.

The company has also stated that NT-2 is expected to be available for production in late Q3 2026 upon completion and commissioning of the pipeline. Initial production from NT-2, NT-1 and CH-1 is described as targeting up to 60 MMcfd, with later phases envisaging growth toward 140 MMcfd and then 280 MMcfd, subject to development progress and access to additional markets.

Against that backdrop, remuneration alignment is not the main catalyst. Pipeline completion, first gas and drilling remain far more important. But if the AGM notice or subsequent meeting also shows a sensible approach to board incentives, it could add another layer of confidence at a time when investors are already looking for signs of execution.