After the whirlwind of around a month ago when it seemed there were bargains galore with company share prices, significant director dealing activity has tailed off somewhat in the past few weeks.
But there are still plenty of notable transactions, with two multi-million pound buys and sells catching the eye.
HIKMA BOSS SELLS £33M WORTH OF SHARES
According to an announcement yesterday, Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) executive chairman Said Darwazah sold 1.35m shares at £24.50 each, in a transaction totalling around £33m.
The announcement said the sale relates to the liquidation of HMS Holding SAL, a holding company owned by the Darwazah family. Hikma was founded in Amman, Jordan in 1978 by well-known pharmaceutical entrepreneur Samih Darwazah.
Hikma shares have gained strongly this year, rising roughly 20% year-to-date from £19.85 at market close on 2 January to around £24.61 today.
In a trading update on 30 April, the firm said it has made a strong start to the year despite ‘challenging market conditions’ as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and reiterated its full year guidance. Hikma also said it is focused on ‘delivering critically needed medicines to patients’ during the pandemic.
CHIEF EXEC BUYS QUARTER OF COMPANY’S SHARES
Directors buying a big chunk of their company’s shares is one sure-fire way to show confidence in a business.
Oisin Fanning, chief executive of oil and gas explorer San Leon Energy (SLE:AIM), did exactly that when he upped his stake in the business from 1.8% to 24%.
Fanning bought 98m shares at 21p each, totalling a cool £20.6m, from the company’s biggest investor, Toscafund Asset Management, which now owns around 50% of San Leon’s shares.
San Leon recently proposed a special dividend of 6p per ordinary share, as it revealed it had a cash balance of £59m as at 24 April, with strong visibility on future cash flows.
SPIRENT CFO CUTS STAKE
Elsewhere, Spirent Communications (SPT) chief financial officer Paula Bell sold 50,000 shares at 252.5p each, for a total of around £126,000. Her partner Dean Ritchie also sold around £376,000 worth of shares.
In a first quarter trading update a month ago, the telecoms testing company said revenue in the three months to 31 March had increased 12%, with ‘good growth’ in new orders as it ‘continued to build momentum into the second quarter’.
The company’s shares took a hit in the big market selloff in March, but have since recovered to trade marginally higher year-to-date.
For a full list of the week’s most significant director trades, click here.
