In our weekly series, James Norris looks at directors buying and selling shares in their own companies over the last week.
- Chief Executive sells Burberry shares
- Non exec chairman sells Marwyn Value Investors shares
- Chief executive buys 987k Lords Group Trading shares
- Inspecs Group chief executive purchases 40k shares
Burberry Group (LON: BRBY) chief executive Jonathan Akeroyd on 30 June sold 49,037 shares at 1,619p for £793,948.06. This follows a part sale on 15 June of shares vested to him when he joined the company, selling 34,395 shares at 1,618p for £556,400. Akeroyd joined the British luxury goods brand from Versace in April. Prior to that, Akeroyd headed up Alexander McQueen for more than a decade, where he oversaw a turnaround there. Investors will be hoping he can perform the same trick with Burberry. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 1,638p, a return of -9.85% YTD and -20.03% over 12 months.
Marwyn Value Investors (LON: MVI), one of the busiest acquisition companies on the London market, has announced that non-executive chairman Robert Ware on 30 June sold 200,174 shares at 113p, for a total of £227,197, leaving him with 500,000 ordinary shares in the company, or about 0.88% of total voting rights. MVI, an investment trust focused on mid-cap businesses based in the UK, Europe and North America, on 19 June appointed Mark Hodges, former top executive at Aviva and British Gas, to lead Marwyn Acquisition Company II, which will focus on the financial services, consumer and technology industries. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 115p, a return of -2.43% YTD and -5.30% over 12 months.
Lords Group Trading (LON: LORD), a specialist distributor of building, plumbing, heating and DIY materials in the UK, has announced that on 1 July chief executive Shanker Patel bought an aggregate of 986,843 shares in two tranches at 73p for a total of £720,396. On the same day, chief financial officer Christopher Day sold 924,658 shares at 73p for £675,000. The group was admitted to trading on AIM on 20 July last year, after 35 years as a family business. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 73.50p, a return of -39.22% YTD.
A number of VH Global Sustainable Energy Opportunities (LON: GSEO) directors bought shares in the company on 1 July. Earlier in the week on 29 June, GSEO announced it had completed its placing of new shares, raising £112m, which fell short of the target of £150m. GSEO is an investment company advised by Victory Hill Capital Advisors, focused on energy infrastructure that is essential for the global transition towards net zero. Chairman Bernard Bulkin bought 18,181 shares at 110p each, for £19,999; director Richard Horlick bought 100,000 shares, paying £110,000; director Margaret Stephens bought 18,181 shares, for £19,999; and director Louise Kingham bought 10,000 for £11,000. The shares had a strong first quarter this year, gaining more than 10% to reach 117.6p, but their value has since dipped and are now trading at 109p, a return of 3.07% YTD and 10.73% over 12 months.
Inspecs Group (LON: SPEC), a designer, manufacturer and distributor of eyewear frames, has announced that chief executive Robin Totterman on 1 July bought 40,485 shares at 247p each, for £99,998. The final results for 2021 presented on 29 June revealed the company had more than doubled its revenue, EBITDA and gross profit at a time of organic growth and after a series of acquisitions since its IPO in February 2020, including BoDe, EGO Eyewear and Hardy Amies. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 252p, a return of -28.6% YTD and -33.5% over 12 months.
