Sukh Chamdal, chief executive and co-founder of specialist fresh cream cakes retailer Cake Box (CBOX:AIM) has sold shares with a market value of £10.5 million.
The sale represents 7.5% of the company's shares and was executed through an accelerated book build with house broker Shore Capital. The sale leaves Chamdal with 9.8 million shares, representing just under 25% of the company.
STRONG GAINS
Year to date the shares have risen by 75% and the desire to lock in some significant capital gains may explain the motivation behind the decision for the share disposal.
The shares hit a new all time high earlier this month after the company announced record first half results to 30 September.
Revenues grew 92% to £16.5 million resulting in pre-tax profit more than doubling to £3.7 million. For the four months through September, a period which compares a fully opened estate year-on-year, revenues were 50.5% higher to £11.5 million and pre-tax profit jumped 56.7% to £.6 million.
Growth was driven by continued demand for the group’s unique proposition with 20 new franchised stores opened in the first half, taking the total to 174 sites.
The company finished the period with a record 62 franchisee deposits, which augers well for future growth. Management believe there is scope for around 400 sites across the UK.
Following the record first half results Shore Capital increased its full-year pre-tax profit estimate by 8% to £7 million, saying: ‘Cake Box remains immature, with many years of growth from a capital light franchise model that is expected to deliver double-digit EPS growth over the medium to long term.’
FOCUSRITE BOSS TAKES PROFIT
Chief executive Timothy Carroll of global music products and audio products company Focusrite (TUNE:AIM) has sold shares with a market value of £1.3 million.
Profit taking appears to be the motivation for the disposal. Year to date the stock price has increased by 54% in response to strong earnings numbers.
In July the group increased revenue and profit expectations for the financial year to 31 August 2021 with the company forecasting revenues to be ahead of market expectations of £170.4 million.
In mid November the group announced a 28% rise in sales on a like-for-like basis for the year to the end of August and an operating profit of £35.9m or more than four times last year’s figure.
Commenting on the results Chief executive Tim Carroll said he was ‘cautiously optimistic about the prospects for modest revenue growth in the current year’.
