In our weekly series, James Norris looks at directors buying and selling shares in their own companies over the last week.
- Director buys 4.8m shares in Alphawave IP Group
- Non-exec buys 500k shares in Staffline Group
- Non-exec rewarded with 1.75m Rockfire Resources shares as remuneration
- Senior board members of Eurocell buy on trading update
- Board members buy shares in LSL Property Services
Alphawave IP Group (LON: AWE) executive director Sehat Sutardja last Friday bought 1,282.838 shares at 136.98p per share, paying a total of £1,757,231.46. The purchase, made through his family office, the Delaware-incorporated Sutardja Family LLC, comes on top of another 3,626,480 shares bought last week, at a total price of some £4.75m. Shares in the recent IPO, a leading provider of high-speed connectivity services are just off their 52-week low, and at close of trade yesterday were worth 147.75p, a return of -26.05% YTD and -61.12% over 12 months.
Staffline Group (LON: STAF) non-executive director director Thomas Spain bought 500,000 shares at 50p, for a total of £250,000, through Henry Spain Investment Services. Spain has bought the company’s stock on two other occasions this year, building up his stake in the recruitment and training company while the share price has been declining, with investors unsure about the company’s performance and prospects. Analysts say the company is projected to breakeven possibly within a year. At close of trading yesterday, shares in the company were worth 49.36p, a return of -22.15% YTD and -29.49% over 12 months.
Rockfire Resources (LON: ROCK), the gold and base-metal explorer, has issued Patrick Elliott with 1,750,000 new ordinary shares in the company as remuneration for all his services as a non-executive director of the company for the period 1 January 2022 to 31 March 2022. Rockfire has acquired the Molaoi zinc project in Greece, issuing 50 million new shares to shareholders of Hellenic Minerals, the holder of the exploration and exploitation licence. It has now been confirmed that the metal germanium, classified by the European Commission as a ‘critical’ resource, is present at Molaoi and at potentially commercial grades. Shares at close of trading yesterday were at 48p, 25% up on a 52-week low a month ago, a return of -16.87% YTD and -52.2% over 12 months.
Eurocell (LON: ECEL) chief executive Mark Kelly on 12 May bought 38,674 shares at 192p, for a total of £74,254, while chief financial officer Michael Scott bought 12,891 shares, for £24,750. In a trading update published on the same day, Eurocell, a manufacturer of window, door and roofline PVC products, reported an increase in group sales in the first four months this year of 13% year-on-year, and 39% up on 2019. The news bumped up the share price 5% to 204p, with a return of -15.18% YTD and -27.14% at close of trading yesterday.
LSL Property Services (LON: LSL) chief executive David Stewart bought 16,794 shares at 402p, for a total of £67,511.88. In addition, chief financial officer Adam Castleton and executive director Helen Buck each bought 8,541 shares at the same price, for £34,334.82 each. Full year results for 2021 showed record profits, and the forecast for this year is that group profits should be maintained. The company also bought 15,000 shares as part of a share buyback scheme at an average price per share of 392p. Shares at close of trading yesterday were worth 395p, a gain of 16% over the last two months, with a return of -3.66% YTD and -12.80% over 12 months.
