In the 41 years since it was founded by current chairman Tony Pidgley, Berkeley Group (BKG) has grown into one of the UK's largest housebuilders, with particular emphasis on London and the surrounding area.
And while reservations in the seven months following the referendum were down 16 per cent on the previous year, reservations in January and February were ahead from a year earlier, suggesting that Brexit concerns are now less of a factor. Even so, there remains a chronic shortage of new homes in London, and Berkeley is currently working on 58 sites, with another 22 sites in the planning process or held up by other pre-commencement conditions. It therefore remains on target to deliver at least £3bn of pre-tax profit over the five years up to 30 April 2021.
Shares in Berkeley underperformed in the wake of the referendum as investors fretted over its London exposure, a situation Berkeley treated as an opportunity to enhance shareholder value by buying back its own shares, having acquired 1.34m shares by the time of the last trading update in March. Mr Pidgley, who will be 70 in August, recently sold 1m shares at 3,110p each, but retains a shareholding worth around £171m.
Buys | |||||||
Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
AO World* | Mark Higgins (cfo) | 30 Mar 17 | 3,773 | 132.5 | 4,999 | 27,701 | 0.006 |
AO World | Geoff Cooper (ch) | 4 Apr 17 | 28,573 | 139.99 | 39,999 | 128,573 | 0.028 |
Advanced Oncotherapy | Enrico Vanni | 3 Apr 17 | 75,000 | 28.67 | 21,503 | 898,946 | 1.237 |
Advanced Oncotherapy | Enrico Vanni | 4 Apr 17 | 25,000 | 29.25 | 7,313 | 923,946 | 1.272 |
Advanced Oncotherapy♥ | Michael Sinclair (ch) | 3 Apr 17 | 100,000 | 28.35 | 28,350 | 4,728,230 | 6.508 |
Arbuthnot Banking | Henry Angest (ch & ce) | 30 Mar 17 | 150,500 | 1433.2 | 2,156,966 | 8,351,401 | 56.091 |
Blue Star Capital* | Tony Fabrizi (ceo) | 4 Apr 17 | 4,166,666 | 0.12 | 5,000 | 19,757,959 | 1.600 |
CVS♥ | Nick Perrin (fd) | 31 Mar 17 | 3,714 | 1080 | 40,111 | 32,000 | 0.050 |
Card Factory | Karen Hubbard (ceo) | 3 Apr 17 | 12,393 | 282.4 | 34,998 | 51,797 | 0.015 |
CyanConnode | Peter Hutton | 5 Apr 17 | 26,308,972 | 0.19 | 49,987 | 26,308,972 | 0.149 |
Ergomed | Peter George (ch) | 3 Apr 17 | 100,000 | 190 | 190,000 | 231,250 | 0.571 |
Everyman Media | Philip Jacobson | 4 Apr 17 | 30,000 | 131 | 39,300 | 66,000 | 0.110 |
Flybe | Christine Ourmieres-Widener (ceo) | 30 Mar 17 | 119,760 | 41.75 | 50,000 | 119,760 | 0.055 |
Frontier Developments | Alex Bevis (cfo) | 31 Mar 17 | 15,000 | 292.22 | 43,833 | 15,000 | 0.044 |
Hiscox | Anne Macdonald | 30 Mar 17 | 2,150 | 1102.4727 | 23,703 | 16,600 | 0.006 |
Hiscox | Ernst Jansen | 30 Mar 17 | 2,241 | 1102.4727 | 24,706 | 92,188 | 0.032 |
Hiscox | Hamayou Hussain (cfo) | 31 Mar 17 | 19,700 | 1088.947 | 214,523 | 19,700 | 0.007 |
Hiscox | Colin Keogh | 30 Mar 17 | 1,289 | 1102.4727 | 14,211 | 12,531 | 0.004 |
Ladbrokes Coral | Stevie Spring | 31 Mar 17 | 38,240 | 130.09 | 49,746 | 38,240 | 0.002 |
Laird | A Quinlan (ceo) | 5 Apr 17 | 10,000 | 148.78 | 14,878 | 102,820 | 0.021 |
Laird♥ | A Quinlan (ceo) | 5 Apr 17 | 10,000 | 149.063 | 14,906 | 112,820 | 0.023 |
LiDCO | Peter Grant | 31 Mar 17 | 500,000 | 7.32 | 36,600 | 500,000 | 0.205 |
Montanaro UK Smaller Companies Inv Tr♥ | Arthur Copple | 31 Mar 17 | 5,000 | 503.5775 | 25,179 | 5,000 | 0.015 |
Mountview Estates♥ | Duncan Sinclair (ceo) | 31 Mar 17 | 36,000 | 11041 | 3,974,760 | 574,383 | 14.731 |
North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust♥ | Peregrine Moncreiffe (ch) | 31 Mar 17 | 156 | 2550 | 3,978 | 410,110 | 2.843 |
North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust♥ | Peregrine Moncreiffe (ch) | 31 Mar 17 | 530 | 2550 | 13,515 | 409,386 | 2.838 |
North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust♥ | Peregrine Moncreiffe (ch) | 31 Mar 17 | 568 | 2550 | 14,484 | 408,856 | 2.834 |
North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust♥ | Peregrine Moncreiffe (ch) | 31 Mar 17 | 568 | 2550 | 14,484 | 409,954 | 2.842 |
North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust♥ | Peregrine Moncreiffe (ch) | 31 Mar 17 | 606 | 2550 | 15,453 | 408,288 | 2.830 |
North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust♥ | Peregrine Moncreiffe (ch) | 31 Mar 17 | 980 | 2533 | 24,823 | 407,682 | 2.826 |
North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust♥ | Peregrine Moncreiffe (ch) | 31 Mar 17 | 1,054 | 2550 | 26,877 | 406,702 | 2.819 |
North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust♥ | Peregrine Moncreiffe (ch) | 4 Apr 17 | 575 | 2545 | 14,634 | 410,685 | 2.847 |
Oakley Capital Investments | Christopher Wetherhill (ch) | 5 Apr 17 | 25,000 | 155 | 38,750 | 200,000 | 0.098 |
Oakley Capital Investments | Peter Dubens | 5 Apr 17 | 63,579 | 156.5 | 99,501 | 1,848,167 | 0.902 |
Persimmon | Nigel Mills | 4 Apr 17 | 716 | 2087.75 | 14,948 | 716 | 0.000 |
Phoenix | John Pollock | 3 Apr 17 | 10,000 | 744.8513 | 74,485 | 10,000 | 0.003 |
Quarto | Jess Burley | 4 Apr 17 | 4,055 | 257 | 10,421 | 7,355 | 0.037 |
Seneca Global Income & Growth Trust | James McCulloch | 30 Mar 17 | 30,000 | 168.3 | 50,490 | 95,000 | 0.236 |
Seneca Global Income & Growth Trust | Richard Ramsay (ch) | 30 Mar 17 | 59,347 | 168.2 | 99,822 | 133,014 | 0.330 |
TP ICap | John Phizackerley (ceo) | 3 Apr 17 | 151,964 | 455 | 691,436 | 326,664 | 0.059 |
Tasty | Jonny Plant (ceo) | 30 Mar 17 | 50,000 | 75 | 37,500 | 4,313,843 | 7.220 |
Treatt | Richard Illek | 31 Mar 17 | 15,000 | 377.3 | 56,595 | 55,000 | 0.106 |
VPC Specialty Lending Investments♥ | Richard Levy | 3 Apr 17 | 81,010 | 75 | 60,758 | 1,433,886 | 0.379 |
Sells | |||||||
Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
Bango | Anil Malhotra | 3 Apr 17 | 10,000 | 151 | 15,100 | 3,976,815 | 6.101 |
Bango | Ray Anderson (ceo) | 3 Apr 17 | 14,000 | 147 | 20,580 | 6,614,949 | 10.148 |
Barr (A G)♥ | Jonathan Kemp | 3 Apr 17 | 4,000 | 581.5 | 23,260 | 17,857 | 0.015 |
Berkeley | Anthony Pidgley (ch) | 4 Apr 17 | 1,000,000 | 3110 | 31,100,000 | 5,498,916 | 3.987 |
Gamma Communications | Andrew Stone | 30 Mar 17 | 100,000 | 493 | 493,000 | 1,100,500 | 1.196 |
Gamma Communications | Andrew Stone | 5 Apr 17 | 100,000 | 505 | 505,000 | 1,000,500 | 1.087 |
Travis Perkins | Anthony Buffin | 31 Mar 17 | 13,500 | 1514.179 | 204,414 | 129,244 | 0.051 |
*Placing/tender/open offer ♥Spouse/connected party |