David Potts, the new boss at supermarket chain WM Morrison (MRW), has thrown his support behind the company he was hired to turn around, by buying more than 500,000 shares in the loss-making grocer. At the time of the purchase, the stock was priced at 206p, which means he shelled out over £1m for the shares.
IC TIP:
Hold
at
195p
The move comes not long after management unveiled a plan to get the supermarket back on track. That includes closing 23 underperforming 'M Local' convenience stores, as well as taking costs out of the business and investing in price cuts, products and customer service. It's expected that the pace of change will speed up, now that Mr Potts is fully ensconced in his new role. Last year, Morrisons made a £792m pre-tax loss after like-for-like sales dropped 6 per cent.
| Buys | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| 7digital | Sir Don Cruickshank (ch) | 25 Mar 15 | 100,000 | 13.85 | 13,850 | 100,000 | 0.093 |
| Admiral | Jean Park | 25 Mar 15 | 2,000 | 1,573.80 | 31,476 | 2,000 | 0.001 |
| Armadale Capital * | Justen Lewis | 20 Mar 15 | 66,666,666 | 0.03 | 20,000 | 159,666,666 | 2.913 |
| Armadale Capital * | Peter Marks (ch) | 20 Mar 15 | 66,666,666 | 0.03 | 20,000 | 108,362,066 | 1.977 |
| Bowleven | E A F Willett | 25 Mar 15 | 70,500 | 30 | 21,150 | 503,613 | 0.155 |
| Bowleven | K Hart (ce) | 25 Mar 15 | 275,000 | 30 | 82,500 | 3,204,364 | 0.988 |
| Bowleven | P G Wilson | 25 Mar 15 | 125,120 | 30 | 37,536 | 588,120 | 0.181 |
| Cape ♥ | J M Oatley (ce) | 23 Mar 15 | 10,000 | 255.5 | 25,550 | 72,000 | 0.059 |
| Compass | Carol Arrowsmith | 25 Mar 15 | 3,342 | 1,190.88 | 39,799 | 7,438 | <0.001 |
| Crossrider | Koby Menachemi (ce) | 20 Mar 15 | 68,000 | 100.5 | 68,340 | 142,339 | 0.096 |
| Dalata Hotel | Dermot Crowley | 19 Mar 15 | 25,000 | 252.40 | 63,100 | 177,727 | 0.127 |
| Dee Valley | Jon Schofield (ch & ceo) | 25 Mar 15 | 1,000 | 1,250 | 12,500 | 1,000 | 0.024 |
| Digital Globe Services Ltd | Jeff Cox (ce) | 20 Mar 15 | 113,345 | 58.97 | 66,840 | 3,871,836 | 12.938 |
| First Quantum Minerals Ltd | Martin Rowley | 19 Mar 15 | 20,000 | 929.23 | 185,846 | 771,467 | 0.128 |
| Greggs | Roger Whiteside (ce) | 25 Mar 15 | 15,817 | 1,021.70 | 161,602 | 75,819 | 0.075 |
| Greggs ♥ | Richard Hutton (fd) | 25 Mar 15 | 6,273 | 1,021.70 | 64,091 | 62,060 | 0.061 |
| Greggs ♥ | Raymond Reynolds | 25 Mar 15 | 5,597 | 1,021.70 | 57,185 | 58,821 | 0.058 |
| GVC Holdings | Kenny Alexander (ce) | 24 Mar 15 | 21,740 | 459.9 | 99,982 | 422,073 | 0.689 |
| GVC Holdings | Lee Feldman (ch) | 25 Mar 15 | 12,500 | 459 | 57,375 | 135,075 | 0.220 |
| GVC Holdings ♥ | Richard Cooper (fd) | 24 Mar 15 | 10,000 | 459.8 | 45,980 | 336,667 | 0.549 |
| Harworth * | J Cox (ch) | 24 Mar 15 | 1,611,662 | 7.25 | 116,845 | 8,233,200 | 1.360 |
| Harworth * | Peter Hickson | 24 Mar 15 | 689,655 | 7.25 | 50,000 | 689,655 | 0.024 |
| Harworth * | Mike Richardson | 24 Mar 15 | 344,827 | 7.25 | 25,000 | 344,827 | 0.012 |
| Harworth * | Owen Michaelson | 24 Mar 15 | 620,688 | 7.25 | 45,000 | 920,688 | 0.032 |
| Imagination Technologies | Bert Nordberg (ch) | 25 Mar 15 | 35,000 | 217.31 | 76,059 | 35,000 | 0.013 |
| Jarvis Securities ♥ | Andrew Grant (ch & ceo) | 24 Mar 15 | 24,000 | 375 | 90,000 | 5,757,150 | 51.906 |
| KBC Advanced Technologies ♥ | Oliver Scott | 20 Mar 15 | 81,789 | 89.45 | 73,159 | 10,237,550 | 12.485 |
| Land Securities | Edward Carter | 25 Mar 15 | 10,000 | 1,277 | 127,700 | 10,000 | 0.001 |
| Lloyds Banking | Nick Luff | 20 Mar 15 | 100,000 | 80.25 | 80,250 | 300,000 | <0.001 |
| London Capital Holdings | Charles-Henri Sabet (ce) | 25 Mar 15 | 100,000 | 24 | 24,000 | 10,800,000 | 14.479 |
| Meggitt | Sir Nigel Rudd | 23 Mar 15 | 20,000 | 564.5 | 112,900 | 20,000 | 0.003 |
| Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets | David Potts (ce) | 19 Mar 15 | 508,000 | 205.85 | 1,045,718 | 508,000 | 0.022 |
| Murray Income Trust | Neil Rogan | 25 Mar 15 | 7,000 | 761.57 | 53,310 | 14,000 | 0.021 |
| Numis Corp | Catherine James | 20 Mar 15 | 12,000 | 261.4 | 31,368 | 12,000 | 0.011 |
| Ophir Energy | W G Schrader | 20 Mar 15 | 7,500 | 135 | 10,125 | 17,700 | 0.002 |
| Ophir Energy | Nick Cooper (ce) | 24 Mar 15 | 79,500 | 138.73 | 110,290 | 1,336,531 | 0.187 |
| Palace Capital Ω | Richard Starr | 20 Mar 15 | 17,225 | 360.10 | 62,027 | 67,225 | 0.332 |
| Palace Capital Ω ♥ | Richard Starr | 20 Mar 15 | 15,003 | 360.10 | 54,026 | 82,258 | 0.407 |
| Picton Property Income Ltd | Trevor Ash | 23 Mar 15 | 50,000 | 68.5 | 34,250 | 350,000 | 0.065 |
| Providence Resources * | John O'Sullivan | 23 Mar 15 | 30,506 | 34 | 10,372 | 61,154 | 0.044 |
| Providence Resources * | James McCarthy | 23 Mar 15 | 29,411 | 34 | 10,000 | 39,411 | 0.028 |
| Providence Resources * | Lex Gamble | 23 Mar 15 | 100,000 | 34 | 34,000 | 200,000 | 0.143 |
| Providence Resources * | Tony O'Reilly (ce) | 23 Mar 15 | 130,000 | 34 | 44,200 | 242,470 | 0.173 |
| Regus | Dominique Yates (cfo) | 24 Mar 15 | 43,273 | 231.10 | 100,003 | 785,262 | 0.084 |
| Schroder UK Growth Fund | Stella Pirie | 25 Mar 15 | 17,000 | 166.21 | 28,256 | 46,603 | 0.029 |
| Secure Property Development & Investment * | Lambros Anagnostopoulos (ce) | 19 Mar 15 | 117,050 | 25 | 29,263 | 355,987 | 0.617 |
| Stilo International | David Ashman (ch) | 19 Mar 15 | 3,002,000 | 2.19 | 65,744 | 15,202,000 | 13.844 |
| Tritax Big Box REIT * ♥ | Richard Jewson (ch) | 23 Mar 15 | 10,000 | 110 | 11,000 | 50,000 | 0.008 |
| Tullow Oil ♥ | Paul McDade | 20 Mar 15 | 45,000 | 319.26 | 143,667 | 314,235 | 0.034 |
| United Cacao Ltd SEZC | Dennis Melka | 20 Mar 15 | 10,000 | 205 | 20,500 | 5,230,747 | 28.137 |
| W Resources * | MG Masterman (ch) | 25 Mar 15 | 80,000,000 | 0.2 | 160,000 | 870,549,169 | 28.320 |
| W Resources ♥ * | Dr. BA Pirola | 25 Mar 15 | 25,000,000 | 0.2 | 50,000 | 196,876,415 | 6.405 |
| Witan Investment Trust | Suzy Neubert | 19 Mar 15 | 4,981 | 798.73 | 39,785 | 9,379 | 0.005 |
| Sells | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| Big Yellow | Nicholas Vetch (ch) | 20 Mar 15 | 100,000 | 656 | 656,000 | 8,960,483 | 5.721 |
| British Land Co | Charles Maudsley | 24 Mar 15 | 4,000 | 877.5 | 35,100 | 159,801 | 0.016 |
| IMI ♥ | Douglas Hurt (fd) | 24 Mar 15 | 3,600 | 1,336 | 48,096 | 189,012 | 0.070 |
| Palace Capital | Richard Starr | 20 Mar 15 | 32,258 | 360 | 116,129 | 50,000 | 0.247 |
| Sirius Real Estate Ltd | Andrew Coombs (ce) | 25 Mar 15 | 327,931 | 42 | 137,731 | 2,171,579 | 0.345 |
| * placing/tender/open offer ♥ spouse/connected party Ω ISA/SIPP/Trust † depositary receipts | |||||||
