StockerYale execs get stock incentive

StockerYale Inc. will give its chief executive officer more than a million shares of stock if the company meets its annual financial goals, the company disclosed Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Salem company, which has been losing and been strapped for cash over the past few years, would grant 1,012,000 fully vested restricted shares to CEO Mark Blodgett if the company achieves cash flow and net income results in 2007.

Marianne Molleur, StockerYale’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, is eligible to receive up to 392,000 shares.

In the last week, StockerYale’s stock has been trading in the $1.30-to-$1.40 range, following the announcement by the designer and manufacturer of optical equipment that 3.7 million shares, representing 10.5 percent of its outstanding shares, would not be sold on the open market, but would be placed with existing institutional investors.

The shares were owned by Eureka Interactive Fund, managed by Marshall Wace, but that fund was in the process of being wound down, the company said.

At the end of the first quarter, StockerYale had $1.6 million in cash, the equivalent of the net loss to the company during that quarter. – BOB SANDERS