Director dealing activity in the past week has picked up significantly with some company bosses and directors putting their money where their mouth is, and others taking advantage of big share price recoveries to trim their holdings.

One of the most notable deals involves Domino’s Pizza (DOM) non-executive director Usman Nabi, who is also founder and chief investment officer of hedge fund Browning West.

Nabi, via Browning West, has made a number of purchases of Domino’s shares over the past week, snapping up 1.98 million shares for a combined total of £6.9 million, with the fund’s stake in Domino’s standing at 9.58%. The move is likely to go down well with investors as Browning West shows its confidence in the business.

The purchases came a few days before the company - a rare lockdown winner thanks to the surge in demand for takeaway food - announced plans to create 5,000 new jobs ahead of its busiest period of the year.

TECH BOSSES TRIM HOLDINGS

Meanwhile two big sellers over the past week have been the bosses of IT reseller Computacenter (CCC) and foreign exchange company Alpha FX (AFX:AIM).

Computacenter chief executive Michael Norris sold 100,000 shares at £23.69 each for a total of around £2.36 million, with the company’s shares trading near their all-time high following a remarkably resilient performance during the first of the year despite the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures, with the firm’s full year earnings set to be materially ahead of previous expectations.

While Alpha FX chief exec Morgan Tilbrook sold 2.71 million shares in the currency and payment solutions group at 910p each, pocketing a very handsome £24.95 million.

Tilbrook has agreed to not offload any more of his shares in the company in the next three years, unless given prior written consent by the company and broker Liberum.

It comes after the company also reported resilient trading during the first half of the year, with interim revenues 16% higher to £18 million, though operating profits did fall 5% to £5.9 million after charging a £0.5 million provision.

NEW AVIVA CHIEF EXEC MAKES FIRST BUY

New Aviva (AV.) boss Amanda Blanc made her first purchase of the company’s shares this week, spending £1 million after snapping up over 324,800 shares at a price of around 300p each.

Blanc is attempting to turnaround Aviva’s fortunes and has vowed not only to simplify the business but to go further, reviewing ‘all strategic opportunities, at pace, in order to unlock value for shareholders’.

For a full list of the week’s most significant trades, click HERE.

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Issue Date: 17 Sep 2020