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Fenner seller is FAST mover

David Jones sells shares in Fenner while two directors buy into Dixons Retail and another ups his stake in Hyder Consulting
January 24, 2013, Lee Wild, John Ficenec and Robert Ansted

There was little in Fenner's (FENR) first-quarter musings to get the pulse racing. A quieter first half at the industrial conveyor belt specialist has already been pencilled in and few expect much action until later in the year. So, given the shares have re-rated sharply since the autumn and market sentiment has just begun to sour, the decision by one senior employee to cash in his chips looks a sensible move.

David Jones, a scientist who's run Fenner's Advanced Sealing Technologies business for eight years, has banked more than £300,000 from the sale of his last 80,000 shares. Sitting within Fenner's higher-margin Advanced Engineered Products (AEP) division, the unit known as FAST makes high-performance seals for oil and gas and mining equipment, and precision machined plastics for aerospace, defence and medical components. Customer de-stocking has hindered parts of AEP, but that should wind down during the second half, according to Fenner.

Fenner’s long-term prospects looks sound enough, and both coal and iron ore prices have improved recently. That should cheer up the Australian mining industry, but a mild winter in the US is unhelpful so, with the shares already trading on 11.5 times forward earnings, we stick with our hold advice.

Lee Wild

No mystery why Mistry and Allan bought Dixons’ shares

Dixons Retail (DXNS) had a fantastic 2012, with its share price up 189 per cent, capitalising on the demise of Comet in the UK and Expert in Sweden. Furthermore, it just posted sparkling Christmas trading figures, which were boosted by consumer demand for electricals. With so much positive news buzzing around the company, independent non-executive director Dharmash Mistry along with John Allan boosted their holdings and bought 193,756 shares between them.

It's perhaps no coincidence that the purchases were made on the same day Dixons released its Christmas trading figures. Group like-for-like underlying sales grew 3 per cent, with particularly strong results in the UK and Ireland (up 8 per cent) and Northern Europe (up 11 per cent). Full-year underlying pre-tax profits are expected to be in line with market expectations and Dixons will inevitably pick up a fair chunk of Comet’s £1.2bn-worth of sales. However, the group’s struggling PIXmania business reported a 25 per cent decline in like-for-like sales, while its southern European business is also flagging. Tough times lie ahead as PIXmania is restructured and Dixons fights to fend off online competition. The shares remain a hold.

Julia Bradshaw

Taylor buys ahead of trading update

Kevin Taylor, non-executive director at Hyder Consulting (HYC), has been busy buying ahead of the trading update expected on 29 January, picking up 7,490 shares at 445p a share. Investors will be getting much more detail on the Australian operations with a full seminar following the update. In the previous full-year results, Hyder generated 83 per cent of its profits from overseas, with 57 per cent coming from Australia and 16 per cent from the Middle East. Australia has been performing well, with profits and revenues rising strongly, but the economy there has cooled significantly as China slows.

Hyder is the least exposed of the consultant engineers to the struggling UK economy, but it will be interesting to see if increased rail and highways spend was still making up for slower water utility work. The balance sheet was in a strong position in the September update, with £15m of net cash, and if sterling weakens further North American suitors may find that overseas exposure difficult to resist. But the shares have had a good run and, at 460p, they are 16 per cent up on our tip (buy, 396p, 16 June 2011), so we downgrade to a hold until we get more clarity on Australia.

John Ficenec

Buys

CompanyDirectorDateNo. of sharesPrice (p)Value (£)Total shares heldValue (%)
Advanced Power ComponentsMark Robinson21 Jan 13300,00013.2539,750880,0202.9
Advanced Power ComponentsRob Smith21 Jan 1340,00013.255,30090,0000.3
Advanced Power ComponentsJohn Ian Davidson21 Jan 1340,00013.255,30040,0000.13
Cable & Wireless CommnsTony Rice17 Jan 133,000,00037.751,132,500--
Cluff Natural ResourcesBrian FitzGerald15 Jan 13200,0005.611,200600,0000.69
Daniel Stewart SecuritiesPeter Shea (ceo)15 Jan 133,456,6800.5519,01255,942,41110.76
DartyMichel Léonard21 Jan 1315,00064.689,70230,0000.006
Dixons RetailDharmash Mistry17 Jan 1393,75626.6624,995267,382-
Dixons RetailJohn Allan17 Jan 13100,00026.626,6001,121,428-
Establishment Investment TrustGregory Shenkman15 Jan 133,4152067,0353,4150.02
Fidelity EuropeMarion Sears18 Jan 131,200133616,0321,200-
Fortune OilXiang Dong Yang18 Jan 13180,00011.8321,2941,000,0000.05
Hilton FoodsRobert Watson15 Jan 1350,000302.54695151,2733,316,3804.68
Hyder ConsultingKevin Taylor18 Jan 137,49044533,3317,4900.019
KingfisherClare Chapman17 Jan 136,990285.619,963--
Mediterranean Oil & GasPeter Jackson16 Jan 13240,00012.2529,400240,0000.06
Premier EnergyJames Smith16 Jan 134,5001125,04011,2500.06
RenoldRobert Purcell17 Jan 13250,0002665,000875,0000.4
SpaceandPeopleMatthew Bending (ceo)21 Jan 1328,5007220,5202,093,00010.8
Symphony Environmental TechnologiesMichael Laurier (ceo)16 Jan 136,691,7173200,75221,992,31717.2
Symphony Environmental TechnologiesMichael Stephen (d ch)16 Jan 13167,00035,010782,9980.61
Thomas CookDawn Airey17 Jan 1320,00054.910,98030,0000.0033
United UtilitiesSara Weller22 Jan 135,000719.835,99010,0000.00154

 

Sells

CompanyDirectorDateNo. of sharesPrice (p)Value (£)Total shares heldValue (%)
Atkins, WSSara Lipscombe-Notta18 Jan 131,000771.987,7205,6660.006
BurberryPascal Perrier22 Jan 1330,0001,366.80410,040--
Entertainment OneRobert Lantos14 Jan 131,0001751,7501,582,5280.6
FennerDavid Jones18 Jan 1380,193395.40317,083none-
NorthacreKlas Nilsson (ch)17 Jan 135,000,000964,800,000none-
NorthacreMohamed AlRafi16 Jan 137,850,000967,536,000none-
Wetherspoon, JDJohn Hutson (ceo)21 Jan 136,000502.0030,12037,103-
Young & Co's BreweryTorquil Sligo-Young21 Jan 132,00058511,700--

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