Shares being shed

Directors were busy buying shares in their companies but the largest transactions by value once again came from those who were selling.

Catastrophes cause Hiscox directors to sell

Lloyd's insurer Hiscox has seen key directors selling shares recently. Chairman Robert Hiscox sold 240,000 shares on 20 May, worth £1.01m, while chief financial officer Stuart Bridges sold 55,162 shares on the same day, worth £0.23m. Indeed, selling now might not be such a bad move. After all, the group is facing some chunky losses form recent catastrophes – including a $60m-$100m (£37m-£62m) loss from the Japanese earthquake – and broker Numis Securities expects a loss-making combined ratio (of claims to premiums) of 100.1 per cent for end-2011. Yet the shares are among the priciest in the Lloyd’s sector and trade at over 1.3 times Numis’s full-year estimate for net tangible assets.

John Adams

Spencer offloads shares

Michael Spencer, chief executive of Icap , the world's largest inter-dealer broker, may have sold 1.5m shares in the company, but through his interest in IPGL, a private company controlled by Mr Spencer, he still has a 16.26 per cent stake in the company. And investors will be hoping this does not presage a repeat of last year's performance, when Mr Spencer's sale of 3.3m shares in January was followed a month later by a profit warning. Not that this seems likely. Current market volatility is playing into Icap's hands because institutions tend to be more active at times of uncertainty. And while some parts of the business, notably credit and equity derivatives, saw weaker trading in the year to March, this was more than offset by a strong performance on the electronic broking side.

Jonas Crosland

Staffline’s directors’ whopping sells

Staffline directors have followed up a strong trading update for the first four months of the year with some whopping shares sales. The UK-focused temporary staff recruitment and outsourcing company said that it expected to comfortably meet expectations following the good start to the year. Trading may also be helped by a new Agency Staffing Directive and bolt-on acquisitions, which includes the recent bolt on acquisition of Midlands-based Fourstar. Comparisons with 2010 do get harder as the year progresses, though. Still the shares look pretty decent value at 241p and are priced at nine times broker Altium’s forecast 2011 EPS of 27.8p

Algy Hall

Director buys

Director sales

Key to abbreviations: ch = chairman; ce = chief executive; cfo = chief financial officer; fd = finance director; coo = chief operating officer; cs =company secretary; md = managing director

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