On the same day that Andrew Higginson, the chairman of WM Morrison (MRW), ousted Dalton Philips from his role as chief executive of the struggling supermarket chain, Mr Higginson spent £495,148 of his own cash on a whopping 266,209 shares in the company, then priced at 186p.
IC TIP:
Hold
at
194p
That's a huge vote of confidence in the future of the business - and an equally damning indictment of the former boss. The news came as Morrisons reported a 3.1 per cent decline in like-for-like sales over the Christmas period. "In the next chapter of Morrisons' development, we need to return the business to growth. The board believes this is best done under new leadership," said Mr Higginson as he announced Mr Philips' departure.
| Buys | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| BP Marsh & Partners | Campbell Scoones | 12 Jan 15 | 10,200 | 131.5 | 13,413 | 46,000 | 0.158 |
| boohoo.com | David Forbes | 08 Jan 15 | 200,000 | 23 | 46,000 | 240,000 | 0.021 |
| boohoo.com | Mark Newton-Jones | 08 Jan 15 | 109,467 | 22.78 | 24,937 | 309,467 | 0.028 |
| boohoo.com | Stephen Morana | 08 Jan 15 | 179,098 | 22.25 | 39,849 | 379,098 | 0.034 |
| boohoo.com | Peter Williams (ch) | 08 Jan 15 | 100,000 | 22.43 | 22,430 | 400,000 | 0.036 |
| Brunner Investment Trust (The) | Ian Barlow | 09 Jan 15 | 7,500 | 534 | 40,050 | 53,500 | 0.124 |
| EG Solutions * | Jonathan Kay (cfo) | 13 Jan 15 | 46,154 | 65 | 30,000 | 46,154 | 0.204 |
| EG Solutions * | Duncan McIntyre (ch) | 13 Jan 15 | 153,846 | 65 | 100,000 | 1,117,180 | 4.950 |
| EG Solutions * | John Brougham | 13 Jan 15 | 15,385 | 65 | 10,000 | 75,385 | 0.334 |
| EG Solutions * | Mark Brady | 13 Jan 15 | 40,000 | 65 | 26,000 | 100,000 | 0.443 |
| Fuller Smith & Turner | Lynn Fordham | 14 Jan 15 | 66 | 939 | 620 | 13,098 | 0.041 |
| Income & Growth VCT (The) | Helen Sinclair | 14 Jan 15 | 2,814 | 106.6 | 3,000 | 20,018 | 0.033 |
| KBC Advanced Technologies ♥ | Oliver Scott | 08 Jan 15 | 135,000 | 90.557 | 122,252 | 9,993,428 | 12.257 |
| KBC Advanced Technologies ♥ | Oliver Scott | 14 Jan 15 | 51,870 | 94.722 | 49,132 | 10,045,298 | 12.320 |
| McKay Securities ♥ | DO Thomas (ch) | 12 Jan 15 | 150 | 238.06 | 357 | 136,686 | 0.148 |
| Mobeus Income & Growth 2 VCT | NE Melville (ch) | 14 Jan 15 | 8,582 | 116.52 | 10,000 | 52,302 | 0.175 |
| Mobeus Income & Growth 4 VCT | AS Robson | 14 Jan 15 | 5,284 | 113.55 | 6,000 | 14,820 | 0.035 |
| Mobeus Income & Growth 4 VCT | Helen Sinclair | 14 Jan 15 | 2,642 | 113.55 | 3,000 | 14,862 | 0.035 |
| Mobeus Income & Growth 4 VCT | CM Moore (ch) | 14 Jan 15 | 5,284 | 113.55 | 6,000 | 41,359 | 0.097 |
| Mobeus Income & Growth VCT | Catherine Wall | 14 Jan 15 | 26,025 | 95.4 | 24,828 | 26,025 | 0.043 |
| Mobeus Income & Growth VCT | TP Sooke | 14 Jan 15 | 12,578 | 95.4 | 11,999 | 34,362 | 0.057 |
| Mobeus Income & Growth VCT | KM Niven (ch) | 14 Jan 15 | 10,482 | 95.4 | 10,000 | 59,203 | 0.097 |
| Mobeus Income & Growth VCT | Bridget Guerin | 14 Jan 15 | 31,466 | 95.4 | 30,019 | 71,221 | 0.117 |
| Mobeus Income & Growth VCT ♥ | KM Niven (ch) | 14 Jan 15 | 10,482 | 95.4 | 10,000 | 69,685 | 0.115 |
| Mobeus Income & Growth VCT ♥ | Bridget Guerin | 14 Jan 15 | 52,410 | 95.4 | 49,999 | 123,151 | 0.203 |
| Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets | Andrew Higginson | 13 Jan 15 | 266,209 | 186.22 | 495,734 | 266,209 | 0.011 |
| NewRiver Retail * | Allan Lockhart | 12 Jan 15 | 17,543 | 275 | 48,243 | 229,227 | 0.180 |
| NewRiver Retail * | Paul Roy (ch) | 12 Jan 15 | 10,000 | 275 | 27,500 | 370,000 | 0.291 |
| NewRiver Retail * | David Lockhart (ce) | 12 Jan 15 | 20,000 | 275 | 55,000 | 1,680,000 | 1.322 |
| Regenersis | Frank Blin | 14 Jan 15 | 18,000 | 248.5 | 44,730 | 18,000 | 0.023 |
| Retroscreen Virology | Jim Winschel Jr | 14 Jan 15 | 1,692 | 336 | 5,685 | 1,692 | 0.003 |
| Retroscreen Virology | Jamie Ellertson (ch) | 14 Jan 15 | 5,430 | 336 | 18,245 | 10,853 | 0.016 |
| RPC ♥ | SJ Kesterton (fd) | 08 Jan 15 | 1,000 | 320 | 3,200 | 4,000 | 0.002 |
| Safestyle UK | Christopher Davies | 12 Jan 15 | 8,500 | 171 | 14,535 | 128,500 | 0.165 |
| Safestyle UK | Christopher Davies | 13 Jan 15 | 10,000 | 168 | 16,800 | 145,000 | 0.186 |
| Safestyle UK ♥ | Christopher Davies | 12 Jan 15 | 6,500 | 166 | 10,790 | 135,000 | 0.174 |
| Schroder UK Mid Cap Fund | AC Page | 14 Jan 15 | 4,000 | 430 | 17,200 | 4,000 | 0.011 |
| Scottish American Investment Co (The) | Bronwyn Curtis | 09 Jan 15 | 3,000 | 248.401 | 7,452 | 3,000 | 0.002 |
| Servoca | Andy Church (ce) | 09 Jan 15 | 75,000 | 18.39 | 13,793 | 6,889,413 | 5.488 |
| Sirius Real Estate | James Peggie | 08 Jan 15 | 800,000 | 40 | 320,000 | 1,402,678 | 0.223 |
| STM | Therese Neish (cfo) | 08 Jan 15 | 170,200 | 23.5 | 39,997 | 492,756 | 0.922 |
| Sunrise Resources | Patrick Cheetham (ch) | 09 Jan 15 | 500,000 | 0.32 | 1,600 | 19,855,675 | 3.906 |
| TalkTalk Telecom | Dido Harding (ce) | 09 Jan 15 | 98 | 307.53 | 301 | 4,254,000 | 0.445 |
| Tate & Lyle † | William Camp | 09 Jan 15 | 1,600 | 647.92 | 10,367 | 4,800 | 0.001 |
| Taylor Wimpey Ω | Peter Redfern (ce) | 08 Jan 15 | 114 | 13,240 | 15,094 | 2,688,903 | 0.083 |
| Treatt | Daemmon Reeve (ce) | 14 Jan 15 | 17,554 | 141 | 24,751 | 110,870 | 0.211 |
| Treatt | Richard Hope (fd) | 08 Jan 15 | 10,089 | 137.9 | 13,913 | 162,115 | 0.309 |
| Verona Pharma | Dr. David Ebsworth (ch) | 13 Jan 15 | 803,107 | 1.35 | 10,842 | 2,129,774 | 0.211 |
| Sells | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| Avon Rubber ♥ | Stella Pirie | 09 Jan 15 | 1,000 | 791.4 | 7,914 | 41,000 | 0.132 |
| British Land Co | Lucinda Bell (fd) | 14 Jan 15 | 55,000 | 784.2476 | 431,336 | 163,856 | 0.016 |
| JPMorgan US Smaller Companies IT | AS Kemp | 09 Jan 15 | 15,000 | 174.38 | 26,157 | 60,000 | 0.107 |
| Servoca ♥ | ALR Morton (ch) | 13 Jan 15 | 800,000 | 17.946 | 143,568 | 79,318,302 | 63.179 |
| Sirius Real Estate | Wessel Hamman | 08 Jan 15 | 55,000 | 39.85 | 21,918 | 100,000 | 0.016 |
| * placing/tender/open offer ♥ spouse/connected party Ω ISA/SIPP † depositary receipts | |||||||
