Devro continues to benefit from growing demand for its Select premium sausage skins, which it designed as a viable alternative to the traditional gut-casing used by premium sausage producers. Business has been especially brisk in Germany and Japan, and the group is investing heavily in new plant and equipment that will boost output and lower production costs.
Directors at Devro have been rewarded with a number of share option schemes related to the group’s performance, the latest of which awarded business director Michal Stocek 40,000 shares, although vesting will not normally occur until after three years. The share price continues to reflect Devro’s strong performance, and is now up 138 per cent on our long-standing buy tip (131p, 8 November 2011). And Mr Stocek has taken the opportunity to sell 35,000 shares at 313p, although he still holds just over 109,000 shares.
- Jonas Crosland
Lawrinson shows his cards
The last we heard from cards and gift wrap specialist, International Greetings, was in January when it updated on Christmas trading. Back then, the chief executive, Paul Fineman, said the group was trading in line with market expectations. The price of the shares was unmoved at 56p and has spent the last few months drifting down.
The man closest to the numbers, finance director Anthony Lawrinson, certainly doesn't think that's justified; he recently added 35,000 shares at 49p a piece to his holding.
At the interim results the gift wrap group still had a big debt pile and paid no dividend but the US business was reporting a meaningful recovery in revenue and profits. Broker Arden partners forecasts full-year adjusted EPS of 7.1p so the shares at 52p are only trading on a PE ratio of 7.3 times.
- John Ficenec
Director buys
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bahamas Petroleum | Simon Potter (ceo) | 05 Apr 12 | 1,000,000 | 10.5 | 105,000 |
| Bumi | Nathaniel Rothschild | 04 Apr 12 | 507,500 | 616.959 | 3,131,067 |
| Capital Shopping Centres | John Whittaker | 04 Apr 12 | 38,250 | 324.8 | 124,236 |
| Cyan | John Cronin | 04 Apr 12 | 2,100,000 | 0.395 | 8,295 |
| GCM Resources | David Weill | 05 Apr 12 | 8,500 | 94 | 7,990 |
| Hardy Oil & Gas | Ian MacKenzie | 02 Apr 12 | 100,000 | 151.5 | 151,500 |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | Alexander Davies | 04 Apr 12 | 1,328 | 471.53 | 6,262 |
| International Greetings | Anthony Lawrinson | 02 Apr 12 | 35,000 | 49 | 17,150 |
| Invesco Income Growth | Davina Curling | 05 Apr 12 | 3,000 | 210.929 | 6,328 |
| Investors in Global Real Estate | Richard Sutton | 06 Feb 12 | 20,000 | US$1,4 | US$28,000 |
| Legal & General | Julia Wilson | 04 Apr 12 | 8,163 | 130.08 | 10,618 |
| Macfarlane | Archie Hunter | 03 Apr 12 | 100,000 | 19.4 | 19,400 |
| Macfarlane | Graeme Bissett | 04 Apr 12 | 50,250 | 19.9 | 10,000 |
| Macfarlane | John Love | 04 Apr 12 | 50,000 | 20 | 10,000 |
| Sigma Capital | David Sigsworth (ch) | 04 Apr 12 | 150,000 | 7.008621 | 10,513 |
| Sigma Capital | Marilyn Cole (fd) | 04 Apr 12 | 100,000 | 7.008621 | 7,009 |
| Sigma Capital | Mark Hogarth | 04 Apr 12 | 142,857 | 7.008621 | 10,012 |
| Sigma Capital | John Hamilton | 04 Apr 12 | 285,714 | 7.008621 | 20,025 |
| Sigma Capital | Gwynn Thomson | 04 Apr 12 | 142,857 | 7.008621 | 10,012 |
| Taylor Wimpey | Ryan Mangold | 03 Apr 12 | 20,000 | 49.7 | 9,940 |
| Taylor Wimpey | Ryan Mangold | 05 Apr 12 | 17,000 | 48 | 8,214 |
| Utilico | Gordon Hamilton | 05 Apr 12 | 50,000 | 162 | 81,000 |
| Xaar | Alex Bevis (fd) (cs) | 05 Apr 12 | 17,115 | 235.3 | 40,272 |
Director sells
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha Pyrenees Trust | Bradley Bauman | 05 Apr 12 | 50,000 | 24.45 | 12,225 |
| Devro | Michal Stocek | 04 Apr 12 | 35,000 | 313.20 | 109,620 |
| Morgan Crucible | Simon Rhodes Halliday | 03 Apr 12 | 4,000 | 327 | 13,088 |
| Publishing Technology | Martyn Rose (ch) | 05 Apr 12 | 50,000 | 44.50 | 22,250 |
| SVG Capital | Nicholas Ferguson | 30 Mar 12 | 68,158 | 321.00 | 218,787 |
| SVG Capital | Edgar Koning | 30 Mar 12 | 4,587 | 321 | 14,724 |
| Thorpe, FW | Peter Mason | 04 Apr 12 | 2,500 | 950.00 | 23,750 |
| Ultra Electronics | David Garbett-Edwards | 04 Apr 12 | 570 | 1,748.44 | 9,966 |
| Walker Crips | SJ Bailey | 10 Apr 12 | 25,000 | 45.00 | 11,250 |
| Xstrata | Thras Moraitis | 03 Apr 12 | 37,947 | 1,107.00 | 420,073 |
Table compiled by Robert Ansted.
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
