Simon Peckham, chief executive of UK manufacturing company Melrose (MRO), sold 2,000,000 shares at 525p for a total value of £10.5 million on 14 June causing the company’s share price to slide on the news.

The sale, which leaves Peckham with only half his shareholding, was due to ‘personal circumstances’ the company said in a statement.

Over the past five days Melrose shares have fallen over 2% to around 513p, however year to date, they are up over 25%.

INCOMING M&C SAATCHI CHAIR BUYS STOCK

Chairman of advertising giant M&C Saatchi (SAA:AIM) Zillah Byng-Thorne bought 143,536 shares at 174p for a total value of £249,753 on 15 June, perhaps showing her confidence in the company.

Byng-Thorne is new to the role of M&C Saatchi chair, joining from Wallpaper and Homes & Gardens publisher Future in April this year.

The share purchase comes as the company reported a disappointing set of second quarter results on 14 June hit by a ‘challenging advertising environment.’

In April, the company forecast full-year pre-tax profits of £36.5million to £38million, representing a 15% to 19% increase on 2022's record profits.

Over the past month M&C Saatchi shares have fallen over 8%.

DIRECTOR OF JUDGES SCIENTIFIC REDUCES HOLDING

Alexander Hambro, non-executive director of scientific instrument developer Judges Scientific (JDG:AIM), sold 1,000 shares at £94.50 for a total of £94,500 on 14 June.

Hambro now has 48,500 shares remaining representing 0.73% of the total issued share capital and voting rights to the company.

Back in March, the company reported revenue growth of 24% to £113 million for the year to December 2022 compared to £91.3 million in the same period of 2021.

The firm also declared a final dividend of 59p, bringing the total pay-out to 81p for the year, an increase of 23%.

Hambro’s move could be seen as an element of profit-taking as the shares are up more than 13% year-to-date.

 

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