James Norris reviews directors buying and selling shares in their own company in his weekly column.
- Chairman sells Harbour Energy shares
- Genuit Group Chief Executive buys 7.5k shares
- CFO buys 54k Marston’s shares
- 888 Holdings CFO buys 20k shares
- Just Group non exec buys 59k shares
Harbour Energy (LON: HBR) announced last Friday that chairman Blair Thomas had sold 1,099,638 shares over three days at between 472p and 476p, with an aggregated trade value of almost £5.2m. The trade was made through EIG Separate Investments, a Cayman Islands entity associated with Thomas. Harbour Energy is currently engaged in a share buyback programme, announced on 16 June 2022. To date, Harbour has purchased 42,072,385 ordinary shares in aggregate for cancellation as part of this buyback programme. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 485.3p, a return of 37.7 % YTD and 28.6 % over 12 months.
Genuit Group (LON: GEN) chief executive Joe Vorih bought 7,500 shares at 335p each, for a total of £25,131. Genuit, formerly known as Polypipe, a manufacturer of plastic piping systems, last month reported a 2.7% fall in 1H profits but full-year guidance remained unchanged, as revenues were up 7.6%, thanks to a strong UK housing market. Genuit said that, despite short-term headwinds in the residential sector, the long-term fundamentals in this market continue to be strong, driven by new housebuilding and increased interest in energy efficiency. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 342p, a return of -41.6% YTD and -55.6% over 12 months.
Marston’s (LON: MARS) chief financial officer Hayleigh Lupino has bought 54,003 shares at 37p, for £19,889. All pub operators are facing soaring cost inflation in energy, food and staff wages, amid fears of widespread closures: Marston’s said that, due to the war in Ukraine, electricity costs could be about £2m higher than previously guided for the second half of the financial year, though it has managed to fix its gas costs until 2025. Total retail sales in the Group’s managed and franchise pubs have returned to pre-Covid levels, despite a slump in food sales. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 39.5p, a return of -48.7% YTD and -53.9% over 12 months.
888 Holdings (LON: 888) chief financial officer Yariv Dafna has bought 20,000 shares at 118p, for £23,600. In July, the group completed its ‘transformational’ acquisition of William Hill, creating one of the world’s leading online betting and gaming groups, and the third largest in the UK and Spain. However, more stringent gambling rules in the UK and the Netherlands have hit group revenues (-13%), adjusted Ebitda (-29%) and profit before tax (-66%). The acquisition of William Hill has increased revenues by 85%, providing “a platform for strong future growth”, including planned launches in the US. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 121.9p, a return of -60.5% YTD and -70.8% over 12 months.
Just Group (LON: JUST) non-executive director Michelle Cracknell has bought an aggregated 59,000 shares at 67p, for a total of £39,530. Just Group, formerly the Just Retirement Group, a provider of retirement income products and services, announced a strong set of 1H results last month, giving the management “increased confidence of delivering 15% growth in underlying operating profit per annum, on average over the medium term”. In July, they signed their largest single defined benefit transaction to date, at almost £0.5bn. Just says the DB market is currently favourable, providing it with a record deal pipeline of more than £5bn. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 67.5p, a return of -19.2% YTD and -28.4% over 12 months.
