- Peltz offloads Unilever shares
- IHG’s Edgecliffe-Johnson offloads £2 million of stock
- Coca Cola HBC directors exercise options before they expire, and sell
Activist investor Nelson Peltz has sold £70.8 million worth of Unilever (ULVR) shares held by his Trian investment vehicle, implying his work is done with trying to drive change at the consumer goods company.
Peltz has been one of several big investors demanding that Unilever shake things up after a period of lacklustre growth. He joined the board of directors last year and is thought to have been a driving force behind the decision for chief executive Alan Jope to stand down.
Hein Schumacher is set to replace Jope in July and Peltz has given the thumbs-up to the appointment, judging by comments in the Mail on Sunday. He told the newspaper: ‘I knew him when he worked at Heinz. I was impressed by his leadership skills and business acumen.’
Peltz made his name as an activist through various campaigns in the consumer goods sector and has previously been on the boards of Cadbury-owner Mondelez (MDLZ:NASDAQ) and ketchup-maker Kraft Heinz (KHC:NASDQ).
Trian remains a big shareholder in Unilever despite trimming some of its stake. According to Refinitiv data it still owns 1.41% of the business, making it the fourth largest shareholder.
£2 MILLION SHARE SALE BY HOTEL FINANCE BOSS
Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson, chief financial officer at InterContinental Hotels (IHG), and his associate Esther Edgecliffe-Johnson sold £2 million worth of shares immediately after the company reported a rise in annual profits and a $750 million share buyback programme as the travel sector continued to recover from the Covid pandemic.
InterContinental Hotels owns such brands as Holiday Inn and reported a 27% rise in operating profit for 2022 to $628 million. The dividend was lifted by 61% to $1.384 and net debt fell by 2% in the year to $1.85 billion.
Chief executive Keith Barr said group revenue per available room - a key performance metric in the hotels industry - is now back close to 2019 levels. ‘Looking to 2023, while there are economic uncertainties, we expect continued strong leisure demand in many markets, alongside further return of business and group travel and the ongoing reopening of China,’ he added.
COCA-COLA BOTTLING EXECUTIVES RALLY TO DEAL WITH SHARE OPTIONS
Various directors of Coca-Cola HBC (CCH) have exercised share options that were close to their expiration date and subsequently sold the stock.
They include company secretary Jan Gustavsson who spent £560,000 exercising share options at £16 each. He then sold them for £21 each in a deal worth £735,000. That means he made £175,000 profit on the transaction.
Chief executive Zoran Bogdanovic made £151,411 from the exercise and sale of his share options, while chief operating officer Panagiota Kalogeraki made a £78,389 net gain for her options transaction.
The bottling group achieved 14.2% organic revenue growth in 2022 and rewarded shareholders with a 9.9% rise in the dividend to €0.78 per share.
