Boss of online pet care and veterinary services firm Pets at Home (PETS) cashed in over £5 million worth of shares last week, having already passed go and collected more than £34,000 of interim dividends at the start of this month.

Over a period of three days last week chief executive Peter Pritchard sold around 1.27 million ordinary shares at an average price of 383.98p, raising a total of over £5.25 million. Pritchard, who was appointed in 2018, still owns 237,734 shares worth just under £1 million at today’s prices.

The sale comes after a strong run this year in Pets at Home shares, which have risen from 287p at the start of the year.

The firm’s results published last month for the first half to 8 October 2020 revealed 5.1% year-on-year growth in group revenues to £574.4 million, although pre-tax profit fell 5% to £39.6 million due to the lockdown of services in the first quarter.

Pets at Home unnerved investors at the time however by its cautious outlook statement, in which it warned profits won’t grow in its current financial year as it highlighted the significant pull forward in sales in March 2020 which it will be cycling in the fourth quarter.

SIRIUS BOSS OFFLOADS £2.5M STAKE

Meanwhile another big director sale over the past week comes from Andrew Coombs, the chief executive of FTSE 250 property company Sirius Real Estate (SRE).

Coombs sold over 2.6 million shares at a price of around 94p each in a deal worth just under £2.5 million, and following the sale retains a 0.56% stake in the company.

After a big fall in the March selloff, shares in the German business park specialist have recovered and look set to end in the year in positive territory. The firm raised its dividend in November despite reporting a fall in half-year profits.

Sirius said pre-tax profits fell to €62.2 million compared to €79.7 million in the same period last year but lifted its interim dividend by 2.8% to 1.82 cents.

OTHER DEALS

In other significant deals in the run up to Christmas, the chief executive of Primark owner Associated British Foods (ABF), George Weston, sold just under 35,000 shares at £23.04 each, in a transaction worth around £805,000.

Giles Willits, the chief financial officer of greeting cards firm IG Design (IGR:AIM), sold over 93,500 shares at 607p each in a deal totaling £568,000. Following the transaction, Willits retains just over 53,000 shares in the business.

Andrew Stone, non-executive director at business telecoms technology developer Gamma Communications (GAMA:AIM), has continued to sell shares in the company and this time sold a total of 80,000 shares at an average price of £15.23 worth £1.2 million.

He also gifted 9,000 shares to a charitable trust of which he is a trustee but not a beneficiary. Stone retains more than 440,000 shares, a 0.5% stake.

For a full list of the week's most significant trades, click here.

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Issue Date: 23 Dec 2020