To meet a personal tax liability, Michael Abrahams, chairman of Ferrexpo (FXPO), has hived off the bulk of his holding in the Ukraine iron-ore producer. Two separate transactions generated £178,233 to meet the obligation. They were undertaken in the same week that Mr Abraham confirmed that Ferrexpo’s operations remain unscathed, despite Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Ferrexpo is hardly the first natural resources group that has had to contend with political insurrection in addition to the usual day-to-day operational challenges. Investor anxiety has been more acute in this case because Kostyantin Zhevago, its majority owner and chief executive, is also a parliamentarian in Ukraine. For now, however, the ramp up at Ferrexpo's Yeristova mine seems to be gathering momentum, while iron-ore pellet production was up 12 per cent at the December year-end.
Despite the combined effect of a slump in iron-ore prices and Russian expansionism, Ferrexpo’s share price is only off by a fifth over the past 12-months. That's arguably testament to its operational progress over the period. It’s even conceivable that the group’s cost base could benefit from continued weakness in the Ukrainian hryvnia.
| Buys | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| Caledonia Investments | SJ Bridges | 28 May 14 | 5,000 | 2,174 | 108,700 | 5,000 | 0.009 |
| Coburg * | Konrad Legg | 23 May 14 | 80,000 | 65 | 52,000 | 169,300 | 23.255 |
| Coburg * | Chris Ells (ch) | 23 May 14 | 85,000 | 65 | 55,250 | 86,600 | 11.896 |
| Everyman Media | Adam Kaye | 22 May 14 | 207,409 | 89 | 184,594 | 3,037,750 | 8.371 |
| Everyman Media | Paul Wise (ch) | 28 May 14 | 50,000 | 92 | 46,000 | 2,577,168 | 7.101 |
| Experian † | Deirdre Mahlan | 27 May 14 | 2,500 | 1,016 | 25,412 | 15,000 | 0.002 |
| Experian † | Deirdre Mahlan | 27 May 14 | 2,500 | 1,018 | 25,441 | 12,500 | 0.001 |
| Kingspan | Michael Cawley | 22 May 14 | 20,000 | 1,256 | 251,200 | 20,000 | 0.012 |
| Legendary Investments * | Zafar Karim (ch) | 23 May 14 | 22,727,273 | 0.11 | 25,000 | 55,727,273 | 2.264 |
| Picton Property Income | Roger Lewis | 26 May 14 | 51,605 | 59 | 30,447 | 451,605 | 0.103 |
| Picton Property Income | Trevor Ash | 26 May 14 | 65,599 | 59 | 38,703 | 290,599 | 0.066 |
| Polymetal International | Marina Gronberg | 23 May 14 | 11,000 | 511.36 | 56,249 | 11,000 | 0.003 |
| R E A Holdings | DJ Blackett | 23 May 14 | 10,000 | 470 | 47,000 | 10,000 | 0.029 |
| Smiths | William Seeger | 27 May 14 | 2,500 | 1,309 | 32,721 | 2,500 | <0.001 |
| Stellar Diamonds * | SJ Poulton | 27 May 14 | 1,600,000 | 1.25 | 20,000 | 5,964,456 | 0.854 |
| Stellar Diamonds * | The Lord Daresbury (ch) | 27 May 14 | 1,615,428 | 1.25 | 20,193 | 9,484,807 | 1.359 |
| UBM | Terry Neill | 22 May 14 | 5,000 | 653.16 | 32,658 | 25,847 | 0.011 |
| UK Mail | Guy Buswell (ce) | 22 May 14 | 12,195 | 615 | 74,999 | 267,807 | 0.489 |
| Urban&Civic * | Alan Dickinson | 22 May 14 | 88,889 | 225 | 200,000 | 88,889 | 0.063 |
| Urban&Civic * | Robin Butler | 22 May 14 | 111,110 | 225 | 249,998 | 1,198,393 | 0.853 |
| Urban&Civic * | Nigel Hugill | 22 May 14 | 111,110 | 225 | 249,998 | 1,198,393 | 0.853 |
| Urban&Civic * | Robert Dyson | 22 May 14 | 111,111 | 225 | 250,000 | 173,411 | 0.123 |
| Urban&Civic * | Duncan Hunter | 22 May 14 | 550,000 | 225 | 1,237,500 | 550,000 | 0.391 |
| Urban&Civic * | Philip Leech (ce) | 22 May 14 | 222,222 | 225 | 500,000 | 461,169 | 0.328 |
| Urban&Civic * | Robert Adair (ch) | 22 May 14 | 284,444 | 225 | 639,999 | 13,611,062 | 9.688 |
| Urban&Civic * | Jon Austen (fd) | 22 May 14 | 133,334 | 225 | 300,002 | 236,752 | 0.169 |
| Venn Life Sciences Holdings | David Evans (ch) | 27 May 14 | 210,000 | 20.5 | 43,050 | 289,033 | 1.025 |
| Vesuvius ♥ | Christer Gardell | 27 May 14 | 13,701 | 440 | 60,284 | 57,187,541 | 21.086 |
| Vesuvius ♥ | Christer Gardell | 28 May 14 | 52,239 | 442 | 230,896 | 57,239,780 | 21.105 |
| Vesuvius ♥ | Christer Gardell | 23 May 14 | 58,093 | 436 | 253,285 | 57,173,840 | 21.081 |
| Vesuvius ♥ | Christer Gardell | 22 May 14 | 102,000 | 433 | 441,660 | 57,115,747 | 21.059 |
| Vodafone | Luc Vandevelde | 22 May 14 | 10,220 | 204.8 | 20,931 | 65,100 | <0.001 |
| Sells | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| Aquarius Platinum | Jean Nel (ce) | 27 May 14 | 231,410 | 25.20 | 58,318 | 2,900,001 | 0.198 |
| Ashmore ♥ | Thomas Shippey (fd) | 27 May 14 | 87,500 | 352.73 | 308,635 | 1,043,637 | 0.146 |
| Barr (A G) ♥ | ABC Short (fd) | 28 May 14 | 15,000 | 626 | 93,900 | 22,711 | 0.019 |
| Ferrexpo | Michael Abrahams (ch) | 23 May 14 | 44,102 | 136 | 59,979 | 135,691 | 0.023 |
| Ferrexpo | Michael Abrahams (ch) | 27 May 14 | 85,691 | 138 | 118,254 | 50,000 | 0.008 |
| FirstGroup | Prof David Begg | 22 May 14 | 20,000 | 134.21 | 26,842 | 13,786 | 0.001 |
| FirstGroup | Prof David Begg | 22 May 14 | 20,000 | 135.03 | 27,006 | 33,786 | 0.003 |
| Hansa Trust | Prof Geoffrey Wood | 27 May 14 | 5,000 | 952 | 47,600 | 1,000 | 0.013 |
| Hill & Smith Holdings | CJ Snowdon | 22 May 14 | 10,000 | 556.1 | 55,610 | 28,930 | 0.037 |
| Leaf Clean Energy Company | Bran Keogh | 23 May 14 | 500,000 | 49.7 | 248,500 | 0 | 0 |
| Rightmove | Scott Forbes (ch) | 27 May 14 | 300,000 | 2,351 | 7,052,400 | 319,300 | 0.322 |
| Royal Dutch Shell | Simon Henry (cfo) | 27 May 14 | 5,000 | 2,457 | 122,850 | 190,227 | 0.008 |
| Royal Dutch Shell | Simon Henry (cfo) | 27 May 14 | 10,000 | 2,450 | 245,000 | 195,227 | 0.008 |
| Standard Chartered | Dr Kurt Campbell | 23 May 14 | 2,000 | 1,340 | 26,800 | 0 | 0 |
| * placing/tender/open offer ♥ spouse/connected party † depositary receipts | |||||||
