Insider: Techies, hedgies and bevvies

Chairman designate buys first round

Diageo sold £10.5 billion of whisky, rum and vodka to thirsty drinkers last year, generating underlying operating profit of over £3 billion. That was up 3% on an organic basis, and we heard of further progress at the AGM in September.

Scotch, US spirits and India are driving the top line as the new financial year unfolds, according to chief executive Ivan Menezes. Heavy spending to make future savings will drop off as the year progresses, so margins should end the 12 months in better shape.

But Diageo shares are down over 7% since the AGM, and around half the 30% rally between mid-June and early October has now unwound. That, however, is an opportunity, reckons non-executive director Javier Ferrán, who'll take over from departing chairman Dr Franz Humer on 1 January.

Ferrán, a founding partner at private equity firm Lion Capital and former boss of Bacardi, has just spent over £250,000 on 13,000 Diageo shares at 1,975p each, four months after joining the board.

Demand for the shares has picked up in recent days, and Barclays now thinks the Smirnoff and Guinness firm will enjoy a huge foreign exchange boost of £527 million in the year to June 2017.

It had had pencilled in just £364 million previously - before the pound's spectacular collapse - only slightly less than Diageo's own £370 million estimate.

Oh Man!

We asked last month whether the worm had turned at hedge fund manager Man Group. Five weeks and a US presidential election later, and it's still unclear.

However, the share price is up over 20% since the June low, which is enough for finance chief Jonathan Sorrell, who's trousered over £800,000 after selling 639,489 shares at just over 125p a pop.

Recent third-quarter results were OK. Hearing news of a bigger-than-expected increase in third quarter assets under management (AUM) and new share buyback programme, investors chased the shares up around 16%. And they've held up pretty well since.

"The shares are looking cheap, but it looks too early as we may well have further impairments to come from an acquisition policy that has proved ineffective," warned finnCap's respected financials analyst Jeremy Grime. We'll see.

Computer says 'yes'

There's been a fair bit of director buying at Computacenter since last month's third-quarter trading update. Chairman Greg Lock is in the thick of it, and he's at it again this week, with a £108,000 splurge on 15,000 shares at 721p.

Up more than tenfold since the financial crisis, shares in the IT services provider have taken a breather this year, down 13% so far in 2016. However, results on 21 October showed three-month revenue up 2% to £735 million, although flattered by currency moves, and said it should do the numbers for the full-year.

"While much remains to be done in 2016 in the all-important fourth quarter, the performance in the third quarter has re-enforced our confidence for the year as a whole," it said.

"Prospects for 2017 and beyond, particularly driven by the increased adoption of the digital workplace, are encouraging across all our geographies."

We'll get another update on 23 January, ahead of the final results.

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.