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Darty directors detect a deal

New chairman at Darty shows his confidence in the company by buying shares while Ed Torr sells in his veterinary pharmaceutical business.
January 3, 2013, Julian Hofmann and Robert Ansted

Perhaps reflecting confidence in restructuring plans at electronics retailer Darty (DRTY), various members of the group’s management team have recently been buying up shares in the company.

New chairman Alan Parker bought £58,860-worth of shares, while non executive directors Alison Reed and Agnès Touraine bought shares worth a total of £20,601. But it remains to be seen whether that confidence will be rewarded. After all Darty – which used to own the now closed UK electronics retailer, Comet – revealed that like-for-like sales had fallen 1.7 per cent with last month’s half-year figures. The group reported a €7.3m (£5.9m) pre- tax half-year loss, too. Sure, the group’s restructuring efforts look worthy enough – management plans to exit such weak non-core markets as Spain and Italy, as well as sub-scale markets such as Slovakia and the Czech Republic. But that will still leave Darty heavily exposed to France where the group generates some 70 per cent of sales – the French consumer electronics market, however, is hardly booming amidst eurozone-induced economic misery. Yet Darty’s shares, at 59.25p, trade on 16 times UBS’ adjusted earnings estimate for end-April 2013 – not cheap for a retailer with negative underlying sales growth.

 

Anything but torrid times at Dechra Pharmaceuticals

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