James Norris reviews directors buying and selling shares in their own company in his weekly column.
- Pantheon International director buys 758k shares
- Chief Executive and Chairman buy shares in Purplebricks Group
- Chair buys 100k shares in Rolls-Royce Holdings
- JLEN Environmental Assets Group Chairman buys 60k shares
- CFO buys 30k shares in Virgin Money UK
Pantheon International (LON: PIN) director John Burgess has bought 758,281 shares at 264p each, for almost £2m. Burgess timed his acquisition to coincide with the publication of Pantheon’s Annual Financial Report, which revealed a record year of performance, as NAV per share grew by 31.0% to 451.6p. Partner and lead manager Helen Steers said that Pantheon’s portfolio of companies is focused on high-growth sectors benefiting from long-term, secular tailwinds that will continue despite the prevailing macroeconomic environment, enabling the company to continue to provide healthy returns for shareholders over the long term. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 282p, gaining some 16% over the past month, but with a return of -16.1% YTD and 4.8% over 12 months.
Purplebricks Group (LON: PURP) chief executive Helena Marston has bought 629,585 shares in three batches, at an averaged 15.9p each for a total of £100,104. Last week, after revealing a disappointing set of annual results for last year, she announced an operational overhaul that she expects will deliver sustainable and profitable growth, as “the potential for Purplebricks is huge”. Chairman Paul Pindar backed the strategy by buying 2.5 million shares at 14.7p each for £367,500. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 16.1p, a return of -29.9% YTD and -76.6% over 12 months.
Rolls-Royce Holdings (LON: RR) chair of the board Anita Frew yesterday bought 50,000 shares at 83.0p each, for £41,300, on Friday buying another batch of 50,000 shares at 81.5p for £40,750. Rolls-Royce’s half year 2022 results were mixed, with profitability particularly low, pushing the net result back into the red, though free cash flow generation was a positive surprise. Rolls-Royce has also obtained Spanish government approval for the sale of its subsidiary ITP Aero to a private equity consortium for €1.8bn, which will enable it to repay its only floating interest rate debt. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 86.7p, a return of -31.9% YTD and -25.6% over 12 months.
JLEN Environmental Assets Group (LON: JLEN), an environmental infrastructure fund, has announced that chairman Ed Warner bought 60,000 shares at 127p, for £76,200. The renewables sector has been benefiting from the tailwinds of climate change regulations and the Russian war in Ukraine, which has underscored the need to end the dependency on oil and gas. A £61m fundraise in January has allowed work to start on a series of new investment opportunities, from electrical vehicle charging infrastructure and biomass to energy storage and aquaculture projects. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 132.8p, a return of 26.5% YTD and 23.2% over 12 months.
Virgin Money UK (LON: VMUK) group chief financial officer Clifford Abrahams has bought 30,000 shares at 154p, for £46,266. Against the background of an uncertain economic outlook, the bank on 30 June announced positive 3Q fiscal 2022 results, and a £75m programme to buy back shares and CDIs for cancellation, which will end on 17 December this year. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 154p, a return of -14.3% YTD and -24.7% over 12 months.
