James Norris reviews directors buying and selling shares in their own company in his weekly column.
- Alien Metals executive chairman buys 51.3 million shares
- Jet2 non-executive director buys 1.2 million guaranteed senior unsecured unrated convertible bonds
- Northcoders Group chief executive sells 19,588 shares
- Marlowe chief executive buys 3,344 shares
- Petershill Partners chairman Naguib Kheraj buys 50,000 shares
Alien Metals LON:UFO executive chairman Roderick McIllree has bought 51.3 million shares at 0.30p per share, with a trade value of £15.4m. UFO, a mining exploration and development company, ships iron ore from the Pilbara region in Western Australia, where the company has exercised an option to raise its 51% interest in the Brockman and Hancock Ranges high-grade iron ore projects to 90%. This year, the company has also secured 100% interests in the Munni Munni Platinum Group Metals and Gold Project, the Vivash Gorge Iron Ore project and the Elizabeth Hill Silver Project, while divesting other interests in Mexico. Also buying shares at the same price were other non-executive members of the board, Mark Culbert (1.67 million shares), Dan Smith (2.5 million), Troy Whittaker (11.67 million) and Lloyd Edmunds (11.67 million). The shares were bought from Artemis Resources [LON:ARV], which has sold its 4.26% interest in the miner. At close of trading, the stock was priced at 0.40p, a return of -40.9% YTD and -44.2% over 12 months.
Jet2 LON:JET2 announced last week that non-executive director Mark Laurence bought 1.2 million of the company’s guaranteed senior unsecured unrated convertible bonds due 2026, at 85p per convertible bond, for just over £1m, while executive chairman Philip Meeson sold two million ordinary shares at 903p per share, with a trade value of £18m. Last month, in anticipation of future growth in its leisure travel business, the company signed a $4bn deal to buy 35 more Airbus A320 aircraft, with an option for a further 71 aircraft. At close of trading, the stock was priced at 1,031p, a return of -7.5% YTD and 5.5% over 12 months.
Northcoders Group LON:CODE chief executive Chris Hill last week sold 19,588 shares at 300p per share for £58,764. He remains beneficially interested in 1.5 million shares, representing 19.6% of the company’s share capital. On the same day, chief operating officer Amul Batra sold 19,587 shares at the same price for £58,761. CODE, a provider of training programmes for software coding, in September announced in its interims that revenue and gross profits had more than doubled, with a 62% increase in Ebitda. At close of trading, the stock was priced at 315p, a return of 28.0% YTD and 35.8% over 12 months.
Marlowe LON:MRL chief executive Alex Dacre has bought 3,344 shares at 597p, for £19,964, while non-executive director Charles Skinner bought 16,556 shares at 604p, for £99,998. They made the announcement the day after MRL, a provider of regulated safety and compliance services, announced in a strong half-year report that revenue was up 66%, Ebitda was up 80%, operating profit was up 85%, with organic growth of 8% in the period. At close of trading, the stock was priced at 572p, a return of -44.1% YTD and -39.8% over 12 months.
Petershill Partners LON:PHLL chairman Naguib Kheraj bought 50,000 shares at 178p, for £88,900 for his Self-Invested Personal Pension. PHLL, an investment group focused on private capital strategies, earlier in the week announced in its Q3 trading update that despite the current market turbulence PHLL had raised $55bn year to date, pushing the aggregate group AUM to $282bn, an increase of 6% during the quarter and 39% over the year. At close of trading, the stock was priced at 175.4p, a return of -36.1% YTD and -39.8% over 12 months.
