It’s been a busy week for directors buying and selling company shares, with some bosses capitalising on rising share prices to sell and other taking a leap of faith and upping their stakes.
Three of the most notable deals this week involve CEOs and directors topping up their holdings.
FINTECH BOSS BUYS £11M OF SHARES
The biggest transaction involves fintech business Supply@Me Capital (SYME) and its chief executive Alessandro Zamboni, who bought £11 million worth of shares at 0.68p each.
Supply@ME Capital is an early-stage fintech company that offers businesses a platform to monetise their inventory and improve their working capital position by generating cash flow.
The company’s share price soared from around 0.09p up to a high of 0.8p after it announced plans last week to expand into the Middle East.
NON-EXEC UPS STAKE IN STRUGGLING HAMMERSON
The ongoing struggles in the retail world, particularly when it comes to property, have been well-documented, but seemingly that hasn’t stopped one director putting faith in his company.
Hammerson (HMSO) non-executive director Desmond de Beer bought £3.3 million worth of shares at 52p each via Delsa Investment and Optimprop, which form part of a trust structure of which Desmond de Beer is one of the ultimate beneficiaries, boosting his stake to 0.92%.
The 52p purchase price is close to the lowest Hammerson shares have ever been as the retail landlord, which owns Birmingham’s Bullring and the Bicester Village luxury shopping outlet in Oxfordshire, struggles with falling rents and tumbling asset valuations.
Its shares tumbled two weeks ago after telling the market that it planned to raise £825 million through a rights issue and sell its 50% stake in joint venture VIA Outlets to its partner APG.
JUPITER CEO ADDS TO HOLDING
Meanwhile the chief executive of investment fund group Jupiter (JUP), Andrew Formica, has also given a signal of confidence in his business after buying 230,000 shares at 214p each for a total of £493,000.
Following the transaction Formica owns around 850,000 shares or a 0.15% stake in the fund group worth £1.8 million.
The company’s shares have been trading at lower levels than other listed fund managers in recent years, and its share price hasn’t followed the wider market rebound in the second quarter of this year, down almost 50% year-to-date.
Analysts at Numis said it would be one of the firms in the sector facing ‘significant market headwinds’ due to higher outflows, which it predicted will now persist until its 2021 financial year instead of flattening out by the second half of 2020.
For a full list of the week's most significant trades, click here.
