Insider: Everyone's a buyer after Trump win
11th November 2016 13:11
by Lee Wild from interactive investor
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Seems directors, like many other investors, were sitting on their hands ahead of the US presidential election. Now, with the result known and financial markets not sinking into the abys, they've pulled on their buying boots again.
There's been a flurry of activity since Wednesday. At least a dozen insiders made purchases of a decent size.
crashed to a four-month low in the aftermath of Trump's win. A week after decent half-year results showed revenue and underlying profit up sharply, investors decided the American firebrand's threat to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - a 23-year-old pact with Canada and Mexico - would be terrible for business.
High-fructose corn syrup could be one of the first industries to suffer, warn analysts who point to the strength of the Mexican sugar lobby. Food producers buy it from Tate to add volume, prevent crystallization of sugar, and enhance flavour.
Nevertheless, chief executive Javed Ahmed and his wife Talat have spent £396,000 on 60,000 shares at less than 679p each. A week ago they were worth 850p. The 3.09 million shares they now own are currently worth almost £21 million.
There was news for , too.
Its chief sausage skin-maker Peter Page forked out £15,000 at 180.69p after the shares plunged to a six-year low. He'd just warned that a likely 10% slump in sales next year mean underlying operating profit for 2017 will be lower than expected.
Chairman Gerard Hoetmer and non-exec Paul Neep's wife Lisa have also had a punt, clearly betting that an expensive "improvement project" will eventually bear fruit, and that a 20% dive in the share price is overdone.
has struggled for the past couple of years, but analysts called this week's half-year results "encouragingly resilient". Adjusted pre-tax profit fell just 5% to £15.9 million, far less than expected.
"We have completed the transformation, which started three years ago," cheered chairman Simon Laffin. "Next year, for the first time since the IPO in 2010, we will have control over our aircraft capacity. We can begin to move from being a supply-driven business to a demand-driven business.
"This will free us for even greater focus on implementation excellence and refining route profitability."
As Wyn Ellis at Numis Securities said he thinks the shares are worth 100p, Laffin piled in, spending over £74,000 on 191,404 shares at just under 39p.
Elsewhere, Greg Lock, chairman at , loaded up on 12,500 shares at 719p, Matt Smith, finance director at struggling department store , spent nearly 25 grand on shares at 55.9p, and chairman Gideon Chitayat picked up 1 million shares at 15.5p.
chair Michael Findlay (4,173 at 715p), Mike Inglis at (1,400 at 354p) and chief Paul Taaffe (100,000 at 40p) have all backed themselves with their own money this week.
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.