It looks like certain members of Tate & Lyle's (TATE) board share our view that the company's shares are worth snapping up - we tipped them at 681p (26 Jun 2014). Indeed, chairman Sir Peter Gershon purchased 10,000 shares at the end of last month at 638p each, spending over £60,000 in total, while chief executive Javed Ahmed followed suit, buying 20,000 shares at 624p each in a transaction worth close to £125,000.
It was a relatively cheap share price rating, a generous dividend yield and solid future growth prospects that prompted our buy tip. True, and as expected, first-quarter trading was not without its challenges. The severe winter in the US continued to drag on operating profit, as did the unexpected shutdown of a sucralose facility in Singapore following an industrial accident. Currency headwinds weighed heavily on the first-quarter's figures, too. But management is confident that the full-year outcome - at least on a constant currency basis - will still meet analysts' expectations.
| Buys | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| Alba Mineral Resources * | George Frangeskides (ch) | 04 Aug 14 | 2,000,000 | 0.5 | 10,000 | 2,000,000 | 0.509 |
| AstraZeneca | Leif Johansson (ch) | 01 Aug 14 | 6,000 | 5,858.36 | 351,502 | 39,009 | 0.003 |
| AstraZeneca | John Varley | 31 Jul 14 | 3,500 | 4,370 | 152,950 | 13,000 | 0.001 |
| AstraZeneca | Baroness Vadera | 31 Jul 14 | 3,500 | 4,328 | 151,480 | 6,500 | <0.001 |
| AstraZeneca | Prof Genevieve Berger | 31 Jul 14 | 300 | 4,324 | 12,972 | 2,090 | <0.001 |
| AstraZeneca | Dr B Burlington | 01 Aug 14 | 500 | 4,304.91 | 21,525 | 2,553 | <0.001 |
| Capital & Counties Properties | S Das (fd) | 01 Aug 14 | 15,548 | 321.5739 | 49,998 | 252,018 | 0.030 |
| Capital & Counties Properties | ID Hawksworth (ce) | 01 Aug 14 | 15,000 | 322.65 | 48,398 | 770,604 | 0.092 |
| Capital & Counties Properties | G Yardley | 01 Aug 14 | 15,000 | 322.65 | 48,398 | 442,972 | 0.053 |
| Compass | Paul Walsh (ch) | 06 Aug 14 | 2,000 | 956 | 19,120 | 11,411 | <0.001 |
| Development Securities | Sarah Bates | 06 Aug 14 | 5,000 | 209.18 | 10,459 | 40,000 | 0.032 |
| Development Securities | Sarah Bates | 06 Aug 14 | 5,000 | 208.99 | 10,450 | 35,000 | 0.028 |
| Development Securities | Sarah Bates | 06 Aug 14 | 5,000 | 208.68 | 10,434 | 45,000 | 0.036 |
| e2v technologies | Stephen Blair (ce) | 04 Aug 14 | 27,000 | 158 | 42,660 | 99,338 | 0.046 |
| e2v technologies | Kevin Dangerfield | 04 Aug 14 | 20,000 | 155 | 31,000 | 25,000 | 0.012 |
| Fenner | Richard Perry (fd) | 06 Aug 14 | 5,000 | 323.874 | 16,194 | 651,701 | 0.336 |
| Fenner ♥ | Richard Perry (fd) | 05 Aug 14 | 10,000 | 335.6084 | 33,561 | 646,701 | 0.333 |
| Fidessa | John Hamer (ch) | 04 Aug 14 | 989 | 2,087 | 20,640 | 79,495 | 0.209 |
| Greencore | Gary Kennedy (ch) | 05 Aug 14 | 10,000 | 259 | 25,900 | 47,389 | 0.012 |
| Halfords | Helen Jones | 06 Aug 14 | 3,000 | 468.6 | 14,058 | 3,000 | 0.002 |
| Inchcape | John Langston | 04 Aug 14 | 266 | 640.5 | 1,704 | 1,063 | <0.001 |
| Inchcape | Kanwarpal Singh Bindra | 04 Aug 14 | 502 | 640.5 | 3,215 | 2,004 | <0.001 |
| Inchcape | Alison Cooper | 04 Aug 14 | 225 | 640.5 | 1,441 | 3,399 | <0.001 |
| Inchcape | Nigel Northridge | 04 Aug 14 | 266 | 640.5 | 1,704 | 26,063 | 0.006 |
| Inchcape | Till Vestring | 04 Aug 14 | 340 | 640.5 | 2,178 | 31,358 | 0.007 |
| Intu Properties | John Whittaker | 04 Aug 14 | 4,000 | 322.39 | 12,896 | 294,681,452 | 22.472 |
| Kibo Mining * | Noel O'Keeffe | 06 Aug 14 | 978,286 | 1.75 | 17,120 | 1,693,151 | 0.824 |
| Kibo Mining * | Christian Schaffalitzky (ch) | 06 Aug 14 | 81,179 | 1.75 | 1,421 | 1,797,089 | 0.875 |
| Kibo Mining * | Andreas Lianos (cfo) | 06 Aug 14 | 1,876,695 | 1.75 | 32,842 | 4,876,695 | 2.374 |
| Kibo Mining * | Louis Coetzee (ce) | 06 Aug 14 | 1,533,381 | 1.75 | 26,834 | 7,133,284 | 3.472 |
| Kibo Mining * | Wenzel Kerremans | 06 Aug 14 | 81,179 | 1.75 | 1,421 | 113,488 | 0.055 |
| Kibo Mining * | Tinus Maree | 06 Aug 14 | 81,179 | 1.75 | 1,421 | 2,671,447 | 1.300 |
| Laird | Jack Boyer | 31 Jul 14 | 5,000 | 283.8 | 14,190 | 10,000 | 0.004 |
| LSL Property Services | Bill Shannon | 05 Aug 14 | 10,000 | 376 | 37,600 | 10,000 | 0.010 |
| Moneysupermarket.com | Robin Klein | 01 Aug 14 | 50,000 | 179.58 | 89,790 | 100,000 | 0.018 |
| Next Fifteen Communications | Richard Eyre (ch) | 05 Aug 14 | 17,304 | 115 | 19,900 | 139,381 | 0.229 |
| Poundland | Darren Shapland (ch) | 04 Aug 14 | 20,000 | 323 | 64,600 | 20,000 | 0.008 |
| Renold | B T Tenner (fd) | 01 Aug 14 | 16,306 | 59.5399 | 9,709 | 424,702 | 0.190 |
| Rotork | Gary Bullard | 05 Aug 14 | 700 | 2,772 | 19,404 | 3,499 | 0.004 |
| Royal Dutch Shell † | Patricia Woertz | 01 Aug 14 | 3,000 | 2,540.81 | 76,224 | 3,000 | <0.001 |
| Royal Mail | Donald Brydon (ch) | 31 Jul 14 | 12,500 | 420.6 | 52,575 | 15,530 | 0.002 |
| Sage Group (The) | Donald Brydon (ch) | 06 Aug 14 | 15,000 | 371.696 | 55,754 | 68,024 | 0.006 |
| Scapa | James Wallace (ch) | 05 Aug 14 | 10,000 | 128.62 | 12,862 | 850,000 | 0.578 |
| St Modwen Properties | Bill Shannon (ch) | 01 Aug 14 | 5,000 | 367.2 | 18,360 | 70,000 | 0.032 |
| St Modwen Properties | Bill Shannon (ch) | 01 Aug 14 | 5,000 | 363.879 | 18,194 | 75,000 | 0.034 |
| Tate & Lyle | Sir Peter Gershon (ch) | 31 Jul 14 | 10,000 | 638 | 63,800 | 92,080 | 0.020 |
| Tate & Lyle ♥ | Javed Ahmed (ce) | 31 Jul 14 | 20,000 | 624 | 124,800 | 1,224,457 | 0.262 |
| Telecity | Michael Tobin (ce) | 06 Aug 14 | 2,500 | 752.2 | 18,805 | 695,110 | 0.343 |
| Telford Homes | James Furlong | 05 Aug 14 | 12,000 | 270 | 32,400 | 1,301,860 | 2.185 |
| TyraTech Inc * | Alan Reade (ch) | 31 Jul 14 | 214,298 | 7 | 15,001 | 12,700,656 | 4.979 |
| TyraTech Inc * | Bruno Jactel (ce) | 31 Jul 14 | 142,857 | 7 | 10,000 | 2,002,424 | 0.785 |
| TyraTech Inc * | Barry Riley | 31 Jul 14 | 142,857 | 7 | 10,000 | 3,198,413 | 1.254 |
| TyraTech Inc* | James Hills | 31 Jul 14 | 142,857 | 7 | 10,000 | 1,190,757 | 0.467 |
| Unilever † | Dr. BE Grote | 04 Aug 14 | 500 | 2,543.32 | 12,717 | 6,200 | <0.001 |
| Sells | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| Carpetright | Martin Harris | 31 Jul 14 | 90,000 | 525 | 472,500 | 11,284,457 | 16.648 |
| Mulberry | Roger Mather (fd) | 31 Jul 14 | 30,000 | 735 | 220,500 | 183,687 | 0.306 |
| Rolls-Royce Holdings | James Guyette | 04 Aug 14 | 100,000 | 1,039.85 | 1,039,850 | 392,898 | 0.021 |
| Royal Dutch Shell | Simon Henry (cfo) | 04 Aug 14 | 30,000 | 2,551.50 | 765,450 | 164,182 | 0.007 |
| Royal Dutch Shell | Simon Henry (cfo) | 04 Aug 14 | 20,000 | 2,547.10 | 509,420 | 144,182 | 0.006 |
* placing/tender/open offer ♥ spouse/connected party † depositary receipts | |||||||
