The Insider: City deals uncovered

Stake-building at Sirius Minerals

Potash hopeful Sirius Minerals could be just years away from incredible riches. Alternatively, it could be months away from disaster. There's little doubt that the company's huge potash deposit in North Yorkshire could generate massive profits, but permitting is ongoing and a decision is due early next year on both the mine and the transport tunnel. It's far from a done-deal.

"Permitting is the next stage and while Sirius is doing all it can to allay fears and concerns for this nationally important project, it does remain the key risk to progress," reckons WH Ireland analyst Paul Smith.

But The Scrimshaw Family Trust, of which Sirius chairman Russell Scrimshaw is a beneficiary, is fully committed. It's added a further 2.1 million shares at 11.75p each, costing the family almost £250,000. It now owns 39.4 million Sirius shares in all, or 2.1% of the company. Last month, managing director and chief executive Chris Fraser spent over £40,000 on 342,000 shares at 11.66p each.

Admittedly, Sirius has bent over backwards to get this project through. It's modified the transport plan for the fertiliser from a slurry pipeline to a 36.5 kilometre tunnel. Plans will be submitted to the North York Moors National Park Authority and Cleveland Borough Council at the end of September, later than expected. Navigate that hurdle, and there's still the port plan to pass. Achieve that and Sirius could be producing from the mine in 2018/19, subject to funding.

Banking profits at Bank of Georgia

Bank of Georgia made more money than ever in the first half of 2014 - £37.2 million of net profit and earnings per share of 105p per share. Pre-tax profit grew by a tenth to £43 million and the company's retail banking loan book jumped over 21%.

Not bad. So why have divisional manager Murtaz Kikoria (£495,000) and deputy chief of the corporate banking division Sulkhan Gvalia (£252,000) offload almost £750,000 of shares in the company?

Well, not everything is going swimmingly. "Ample liquidity in the banking sector and relatively low demand for loans are placing downward pressure on loan yields," explains chief executive Irakli Gilauri.

Georgia's loan yield fell by 220 basis points during the period compared with a 180 basis-point decline in deposit cost. That meant interest income from loans. The issue was most noticeable at the fiercely competitive corporate banking division where pre-tax profit slumped by 43% to £8.2 million.

The pair sold their stakes at between 2,474p and 2,483p compared with just 1,000p 19 months ago, and they still hold over 246,000 shares worth over £6 million.

Technical support at the 200-day moving average (currently at around 2,400p) has held in the past. If it doesn't, shareholders may have cause for concern. The shares already trade on 1.8 times forecast net tangible assets for the current year.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.