Over the past week, directors have sold into share price strength at a number of well-followed companies, while the outgoing boss of one firm put more money to work ahead of his switch to a non-executive role.
DESAI DEMONSTRATES FAITH
That man is Samir Desai, who will soon step down as CEO of Funding Circle (FCH) after 12 years in the hot seat. However, he demonstrated his faith in the lending firm’s future prospects by spending over £100,000 on 65,760 shares at 152p.
At the start of 2022, Desai will be succeeded as CEO by Lisa Jacobs, managing director of Funding Circle UK.
News of the trade (14 Sep) followed record first half results (9 Sep) from the small and medium enterprise loans platform, which generated operating profits of £35.5 million on total income of £120.6 million.
TASTY TRADE
Cake Box (CBOX:AIM) finance director Pardip Dass sold (14 Sep) 375.000 shares in the fresh cream cakes seller at 345p in the wake of a tasty share price run, netting himself £1.29 million in the process.
Following the trade and his recent divorce, Dass holds 2,010,678 shares or a shade over 5% of the company, while his ex wife Kulwinder Kaur has a 3.77 % stake.
In June, Cake Box cooked up record results for the year to March 2021, despite the impact of the pandemic, with pre-tax profits up 11.8% to £4.2 million on a near-17% sales rise to £21.9 million.
The egg-free cake company also insisted that trading had remained strong since the year end. CEO Sukh Chamdal said: ‘Despite continued uncertainty in the operating environment, our unique proposition for customers and new and existing franchisees remains highly attractive and we are confident of making continued progress in the years ahead.’
GAIN FOR GRIFFIN
Elsewhere Tony Griffin, executive director at Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH), sold (10 Sep) 17,500 shares in the international veterinary pharmaceuticals group at £50 in order to ‘satisfy long term personal financial planning considerations and widen his investment portfolio’.
Following the trade, which netted Griffin proceeds of £875,261, he still holds sway over 28,150 shares or 0.026% of the resilient company.
Earlier this month, Dechra reported robust results for the year to June 2021 and flagged a strong start to the new financial year, with ‘the momentum and market penetration seen in the second half of the prior financial year continuing’, according to CEO Ian Page.
