Share-based compensation

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Share-Based Payment Arrangements [Abstract]

Share-based compensation:

The Company provides share-based compensation to its directors and certain employees through grants of stock options, TSARs, SARs and deferred, restricted or performance share units.

As at December 31, 2021, the Company had 3,634,629 common shares reserved for future grants of stock options and tandem share appreciation rights under the Company’s stock option plan.

a) Share appreciation rights and tandem share appreciation rights:

All SARs and TSARs granted have a maximum term of seven years with one-third vesting each year from the date of grant. SARs and TSARs units outstanding at December 31, 2021 and 2020 are as follows:


	SARs			TSARs

	Number of units	Exercise price USD		Number of units	Exercise price USD
Outstanding at December 31, 2019	857,407	$	52.02	1,661,327	$	52.55
Granted	96,160	29.27		761,050	29.27
Exercised	(20,635)	34.59		(1,900)	34.59
Cancelled	(31,660)	58.13		(5,967)	58.38
Expired	(60,500)	38.24		(74,020)	38.24

Outstanding at December 31, 2020	840,772	$	50.61	2,340,490	$	45.43
Granted	39,490	38.79		338,260	38.79
Exercised	(30,151)	34.06		(50,623)	33.89
Cancelled	(25,100)	52.34		(21,460)	50.98
Expired	(158,755)	71.10		(226,430)	73.13
Outstanding at December 31, 2021	666,256	$	45.70	2,380,237	$	42.05

Information regarding the SARs and TSARs outstanding as at December 31, 2021 is as follows:


	Units outstanding at December 31, 2021				Units exercisable at December 31, 2021

Range of exercise prices	Weighted average remaining contractual life (years)	Number of units outstanding	Weighted average exercise price		Number of units exercisable	Weighted average exercise price
SARs
$29.27 to $35.51	2.80	228,520	$	32.42	164,410	$	33.65
$38.24 to $50.17	3.19	154,606	47.25		115,116	50.15
$54.65 to $78.59	1.69	283,130	55.58		274,376	55.52
	2.42	666,256	$	45.70	553,902	$	47.91
TSARs
$29.27 to $35.51	4.14	1,014,664	$	30.64	507,288	$	32.00
$38.24 to $50.17	4.35	643,244	44.02		297,710	49.94
$54.65 to $78.59	2.96	722,329	56.33		631,379	56.15
	3.84	2,380,237	$	42.05	1,436,377	$	46.33

The fair value of each outstanding SARs and TSARs grant was estimated on December 31, 2021 and 2020 using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted average assumptions:


	2021		2020
Risk-free interest rate	0.7%		0.1%
Expected dividend yield	1.3%		0.3%
Expected life of SARs and TSARs (years)	1.7		1.6
Expected volatility	51%		60%
Expected forfeitures	0%		0%
Weighted average fair value (USD per share)	$	8.81	$	13.36

Compensation expense for SARs and TSARs is measured based on their fair value and is recognized over the vesting period. Changes in fair value in each period are recognized in net income for the proportion of the service that has been rendered at each reporting date. The fair value as at December 31, 2021 was $27.8 million compared with the recorded liability of $26.1 million. The difference between the fair value and the recorded liability of $1.7 million will be recognized over the weighted average remaining vesting period of approximately 1.5 years.

For the year ended December 31, 2021, compensation expense related to SARs and TSARs included a recovery in cost of sales and operating expenses of $13.5 million (2020 - expense of $33.1 million). This included a recovery of $20.5 million (2020 - expense of $27.2 million) related to the effect of the change in the Company’s share price.

b) Deferred, restricted and performance share units (old plan and new plan):

Deferred, restricted and performance share units (old plan and new plan) outstanding as at December 31, 2021 and 2020 are as follows:


	Number of deferred share units	Number of restricted share units	Number of performance share units (old plan)	Number of performance share units (new plan)
Outstanding at December 31, 2019	89,766	83,168	303,445	138,038
Granted	29,393	154,460	—	301,090
Performance factor impact on redemption1	—	—	(117,674)	—
Granted in lieu of dividends	3,788	7,326	4,529	13,597
Redeemed	—	(7,713)	(39,612)	(1,842)
Cancelled	—	(8,369)	(3,887)	(7,713)
Outstanding at December 31, 2020	122,947	228,872	146,801	443,170
Granted	23,384	132,360	—	258,970
Performance factor impact on redemption1	—	—	(110,354)	—
Granted in lieu of dividends	1,074	2,729	—	5,545
Redeemed	(13,987)	(6,103)	(36,447)	—
Cancelled	—	(25,473)	—	(17,997)
Outstanding at December 31, 2021	133,418	332,385	—	689,688

1 Performance share units granted prior to 2019 have a feature where the ultimate number of units that vest are adjusted by a performance factor of the original grant as determined by the Company's total shareholder return in relation to a predetermined target over the period to vesting. These units relate to performance share units redeemed in the quarter ended March 31, 2020, and the quarter ended March 31, 2021.

Performance share units granted since 2019 reflect a new long-term incentive plan. The performance share units granted under the new plan are redeemable for cash based on the market value of the Company's common shares and are non-dilutive to shareholders. They vest over three years and include two performance factors: (i) relative total shareholder return of Methanex shares versus a specific market index (the market performance factor) and (ii) three year average Return on Capital Employed (the non-market performance factor). The market performance factor is measured by the Company at the grant date and reporting date using a Monte-Carlo simulation model to determine fair value. The non-market performance factor reflects management's best estimate to determine the expected number of units to vest. Based on these performance factors the performance share unit payout will range between 0% to 200%, with the first payout of the new performance share units in 2022.

Compensation expense for deferred, restricted and performance share units is measured at fair value based on the market value of the Company’s common shares and is recognized over the vesting period. Changes in fair value are recognized in net income for the proportion of the service that has been rendered at each reporting date. The fair value of deferred, restricted and performance share units as at December 31, 2021 was $52.7 million compared with the recorded liability of $42.4 million. The difference between the fair value and the recorded liability of $10.4 million will be recognized over the weighted average remaining vesting period of approximately 1.6 years.

For the year ended December 31, 2021, compensation expense related to deferred, restricted and performance share units included in cost of sales and operating expenses was an expense of $12.2 million (2020 - expense of $22.0 million). This included a recovery of $2.3 million (2020 - expense of $11.4 million) related to the effect of the change in the Company’s share price.

c) Stock options:

The exercise price of each stock option is equal to the quoted market price of the Company’s common shares at the date of the grant. Options granted have a maximum term of seven years with one-third of the options vesting each year after the date of grant.

Common shares reserved for outstanding incentive stock options as at December 31, 2021 and 2020 are as follows:


	Number of stock options	Weighted average exercise price
Outstanding at December 31, 2019	200,631	$	49.07
Granted	15,440	29.27
Exercised	(5,900)	34.59
Cancelled	(5,600)	58.96
Expired	(31,320)	38.24
Outstanding at December 31, 2020	173,251	$	49.44
Granted	6,880	$	38.79
Exercised	(7,300)	34.59

Expired	(27,210)	73.13
Outstanding at December 31, 2021	145,621	$	45.25

Information regarding the stock options outstanding as at December 31, 2021 is as follows:


	Options outstanding at December 31, 2021				Options exercisable at December 31, 2021

Range of exercise prices	Weighted average remaining contractual life (years)	Number of stock options outstanding	Weighted average exercise price		Number of stock options exercisable	Weighted average exercise price
Options
$29.27 to $35.51	2.27	56,007	$	33.12	45,713	$	33.99
$38.24 to $50.17	3.06	30,914	47.64		24,034	50.17
$54.65 to $78.59	1.68	58,700	55.57		56,230	55.48
	2.20	145,621	$	45.25	125,977	$	46.67

For the year ended December 31, 2021, compensation expense related to stock options was $0.1 million (2020 - $0.1 million).