Shares in Admiral (ADM) hit an all-time high the day before first-half results hit the market in August. The insurer has a solid track record of increasing investment income, improving its combined ratio and paying special dividends. Wife of non-executive director Colin Holmes, Linda Holmes, has banked some of the gains made, selling almost £345,000 of shares in the group.
The Wales-based insurer grew net insurance premium revenue from its core UK car insurance business by 12 per cent to £211m during the first six months of the year. Around 340,000 extra customers were added to the books, while expansion across the US and Europe also continued. However, it's not all good news for Admiral. New chief executive David Stevens has warned that low interest rates may put a strain on the value of the group's own funds, which it holds to pay out future claims.
| Buys | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| Audioboom | Malcolm Wall (ch) | 23 Aug 16 | 1,000,000 | 2.5 | 25,000 | 1,480,000 | 0.232 |
| Audioboom | Roger Maddock | 23 Aug 16 | 10,000,000 | 2.5 | 250,000 | 15,513,556 | 2.400 |
| Capital & Regional | Hugh Scott-Barrett (ceo) | 18 Aug 16 | 75,000 | 59.5 | 44,625 | 2,210,000 | 0.316 |
| Eurocell | Mark Kelly (ceo) | 24 Aug 16 | 43,939 | 170.69 | 74,999 | 43,939 | 0.044 |
| Eurocell | Patrick Kalverboer | 23 Aug 16 | 30,000 | 162 | 48,600 | 20,159,094 | 20.159 |
| Eurocell | Robert Lawson (ch) | 24 Aug 16 | 15,739 | 170.69 | 26,865 | 58,596 | 0.059 |
| FBD Holdings | David O'Connor | 23 Aug 16 | 1,500 | 700 | 10,500 | 1,500 | 0.004 |
| GoldStone Resources | Andrew Bell | 18 Aug 16 | 154,522 | 2.375 | 3,670 | 1,351,356 | 1.321 |
| Gresham Computing♥ | Max Royde | 24 Aug 16 | 160,000 | 97 | 155,200 | 7,389,664 | 11.633 |
| Gresham House Strategic | David Potter (ch) | 24 Aug 16 | 2,941 | 850 | 24,999 | 11,810 | 0.320 |
| Invesco Asia Trust | Carol Ferguson (ch) | 19 Aug 16 | 30,000 | 227.7 | 68,310 | 90,000 | 0.107 |
| Laird | Kjersti Wiklund | 22 Aug 16 | 3,400 | 296.03 | 10,065 | 19,400 | 0.007 |
| NewRiver REIT | Mark Davies (fd) | 18 Aug 16 | 5,000 | 329.63 | 16,482 | 69,545 | 0.030 |
| Octagonal | John Gunn (ceo) | 23 Aug 16 | 1,500,000 | 1.245 | 18,675 | 297,794,931 | 53.156 |
| Octagonal | John Gunn (ceo) | 23 Aug 16 | 2,500,000 | 1.2 | 30,000 | 296,294,931 | 52.888 |
| Plant Health Care | Christopher Richards (ch) | 19 Aug 16 | 700,000 | 10 | 70,000 | 776,324 | 0.525 |
| Plant Health Care | Richard Webb | 19 Aug 16 | 751,870 | 10 | 75,187 | 761,870 | 0.515 |
| Plant Health Care | James Ede-Golightly | 19 Aug 16 | 50,000 | 10 | 5,000 | 495,111 | 0.335 |
| Plant Health Care♥ | James Ede-Golightly | 19 Aug 16 | 150,000 | 10 | 15,000 | 645,111 | 0.436 |
| Plant Health Care | Michael Higgins | 19 Aug 16 | 60,000 | 10 | 6,000 | 60,000 | 0.041 |
| Plant Health Care | Paul Schmidt (ceo) | 19 Aug 16 | 751,870 | 10 | 75,187 | 834,750 | 0.565 |
| Plant Health Care | William Lewis | 19 Aug 16 | 187,960 | 10 | 18,796 | 187,960 | 0.127 |
| Quarto♥ | Marcus Leaver (ceo) | 18 Aug 16 | 5,117 | 277 | 14,174 | 388,500 | 1.972 |
| Quarto | Marcus Leaver (ceo) | 18 Aug 16 | 5,494 | 275.1 | 15,114 | 383,383 | 1.946 |
| Stride Gaming* | John Le Poidevin | 23 Aug 16 | 6,667 | 225 | 15,001 | 44,546 | 0.070 |
| Stride Gaming* | Nigel Payne (ch) | 23 Aug 16 | 8,889 | 225 | 20,000 | 13,889 | 0.022 |
| Vitec | Lorraine Rienecker | 19 Aug 16 | 3,248 | 609.5 | 19,797 | 3,248 | 0.007 |
| Sells | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| AB Dynamics | Timothy Rogers | 22 Aug 16 | 10,000 | 466 | 46,600 | 412,953 | 2.325 |
| Admiral♥ | Colin Holmes | 18 Aug 16 | 16,500 | 2088.677 | 344,632 | 23,500 | 0.008 |
| BGEO | M Gomarteli | 22 Aug 16 | 17,451 | 2734.1 | 477,128 | 75,500 | 0.197 |
| BGEO | M Kikoria | 24 Aug 16 | 12,800 | 2793.3 | 357,542 | 11,600 | 0.030 |
| Burberry | Christopher Bailey (ceo) | 24 Aug 16 | 18,750 | 1352 | 253,500 | 554,156 | 0.125 |
| Capital & Regional | Hugh Scott-Barrett (ceo) | 18 Aug 16 | 50,000 | 59.3 | 29,650 | 2,160,000 | 0.309 |
| MS International♥ | David Pyle | 22 Aug 16 | 50,967 | 151 | 76,960 | 1,719,392 | 10.418 |
| Premier Veterinary | Dominic Tonner (ceo) | 19 Aug 16 | 50,000 | 130 | 65,000 | 2,418,837 | 16.226 |
| Tullow Oil♥ | Aidan Heavey (ceo) | 22 Aug 16 | 222,698 | 226.522 | 504,460 | 6,178,813 | 0.677 |
| Walker Crips | Robert Elliott | 23 Aug 16 | 60,000 | 47 | 28,200 | 409,794 | 1.069 |
| Wynnstay | Bryan Roberts (fd) | 23 Aug 16 | 2,544 | 521 | 13,254 | 56,198 | 0.289 |
*Placing/tender/open offer ♥Spouse/connected party | |||||||
