The coronavirus outbreak is impacting all corners of the stock market but several company bosses are using share price weakness to top up holdings in their companies.
The biggest deals involved both the chief executive and chief financial officer of FTSE 100 giant Reckitt Benckiser (RB.), maker of health, hygiene and home products, such as Dettol.
New boss Laxman Narasimhan, who joined Reckitt in September, made his first purchase of company shares on 3 March, buying 17,241 shares at £58, an investment just shy of £1m.
Incoming chief financial officer Jeff Car, who was appointed in October an anticipates taking up his role before the 9 April, has also bought stock. Carr acquired 20,000 shares at £57.48 the 2 March, a purchase that set him back a fraction light of £1.15m.
PART OF THE APPOINTMENT DEAL
Both share purchases are likely to be part of contractual obligations, with FTSE 100 senior bosses expected to invest substantially in stock of the firms they are running.
Reckitt shares have fallen close on 12% since the coronavirus outbreak sparked a massive market-wide sell-off by investors, bouncing modestly to the current £61.28.
Investors have reacted negatively to Reckitt's full year results last week when it reported a disappointing 0.8% increase in like-for-like revenues to £12.8bn, below management guidance. It blamed the poor showing on a slowdown in demand for over-the-counter medicines in the US.
While Reckitt pointed out that the coronavirus is causing some disruption to its supply chain and among physical store medicine retailers in China, it also said it is seeing ‘some increased demand’ for its household cleaning products, such as Dettol and Lysol.
BOSS GRAVITATES TO JUPITER STOCK
Other sizeable director share buyers include directors at finance companies, some of whom have benefited from recent market volatility.
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) chief executive Andrew Formica and chairwoman Nichola Pease invested a combined £297,000 in the firm's stock.
Formica paid 304p per share to increase his stake by 65,000 shares, while Pease added 32,000 shares at 312p to her holding.
Plus500 (PLUS) chief executive Asaf Elimelech and finance director Elad Even-Chen both bought 10,000 shares at 931.5p apiece, costing each man £93,150.
The online financial trading firm has been a big beneficiary of the volatility in stock markets as more people look to take advantage by trading. The more trades, the more commission Plus500 makes.
There were also some big sellers this week, but the majority of these were either to meet tax liabilities or institutional demand for shares.
Jean-Sebastien Jacques, CEO of FTSE 100 miner Rio Tinto (RIO), sold around 20,800 shares at £37.16 each, for a total £774,000, due to tax reasons.
While Anexo (ANX) executive chairman Alan Sellers sold £1.9m worth of shares - 1.3m in total at 150p each - in order to meet demand from institutional investors.
