Insider: A forced sale and results frenzy

ASOS windfall heading elsewhere

Nick Robertson is no stranger to big share sales. The man who co-founded online fashion giant ASOS with Quentin Griffiths exactly 16 years ago has regularly offloaded bits of his substantial stake. This, however, is a biggie.

Finding a buyer for 1.3 million shares at 3,525p netted Robertson, one of Britain's richest men, £46 million. Unfortunately for him, he won't be keeping it. Robertson has just got divorced and is ordered by the High Court to pay his wife a whopping £70 million.

But before you start feeling sorry for him, the 48-year-old, who gave up the hot seat last September, still owns 5.5 million shares, or 6.6% of the company. At today's prices they're worth over £193 million.

Admittedly, the shares were worth twice as much just two years ago, six months before they sank to £17. But what's left of his stake could swell in value further down the road, following last month's slightly better than expected half-year results.

Crucially, the sales outlook has improved, too. Both group and UK sales jumped by a fifth at constant currency, and pre-tax profit rose by 18% to £21.2 million, as expected. Boss Nick Beighton says the firm is on track to achieve sales and margin guidance for the full year.

Barclays was so impressed the broker has upped its price target by 7% to £48, largely because ASOS has ditched its loss-making Chinese business. That's despite an eye-popping price/earnings ratio of 59 on 2016 earnings per share (EPS) estimates.

Stampede into Homeserve

It was a horrible seven months for Homeserve when the emergency home repairs business warned in 2011 that a mis-selling scandal would cost it millions. In 2014, it received a record fine for its hard-sell tactics and misleading information. But progress since has been impressive, and results this week put a rocket under the share price.

Profit before tax adjusted for one-off items rose by 9% to £93 million in the year ended 31 March. Revenue was up 8% at £633 million and EPS 14% to 19.6p. Chiefs also bumped up the dividend by a tenth to 12.7p.

An increase in total customers from 6.3 million to 7 million was driven largely by the US, up 17%, where adjusted operating profit soared 89% to £12.1 million.

Top brass wasted no time in mopping up cheap shares. Founder and chief executive Richard Harpin and his wife spent £89,000 on 19,118 shares at 465p. That's added to the 38.5 million shares they already own, currently worth over £184 million.

This week alone the couple's fortune has increased by almost £26 million. Homerserve shares were trading at just 418p a week ago. They're now worth around 489p.

Chairman Barry Gibson and board members Ben Mingay, Chris Havemann and Stella David also swooped early. Senior independent director Mark Morris was late to the party, though, which meant he paid 488p, over 20p a share extra, for most of his stake.

In all, the spending spree reached £690,000, and even Morris is up in the money. Will the share price test the upper trend-line, currently at around 500p?

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.