The share price of Games Workshop surged after chairman Tom Kirby snapped up 185,000 shares – at 535p, the transaction was worth close to £1m, and means he now holds 6.7 per cent of the company. We've been fans of the shares for some time, first tipping them at 423p in August 2010 – since then they've risen 36 per cent, but the company's policy of distributing surplus cash to shareholders means that total returns have, in fact, been 67 per cent. That policy is one of the reasons why we're still keen on the shares.
Investment in new manufacturing and a restructuring of Games Workshop's hobby centres is now translating into solid growth, which means net cash is rising and further chunky dividends look likely – analysts have pencilled in a dividend of 40p, which means the shares yield close to 7 per cent. Underpinned by decent trading prospects, including a likely boost from a new range of Hobbit-related products to coincide with the forthcoming film, the shares are still a buy at 577p.
John Hughman
Surprise sale by Mears chairman
Mears, the social housing maintenance and homecare business, has been one of the stock market's most formidable growth stories since it came to the market via a reverse takeover in 1995. Chairman Bob Holt has been stepping back from running the company since handing over the role of chief executive to former chief operating officer David Miles in November 2010. But Mr Holt was the driving force behind the group's ascent, so it is of little surprise that the company's share price was knocked on the news that he had banked £5m from the sale of two million shares – his entire holding.
Mr Holt does, however, maintain a million share interest which is the remainder of a controversial 'special incentive plan'. The sale still looks noteworthy and the company says Mr Holt made the sale to satisfy institutional demand and that it reflects the fact he is now spending more time abroad. The company's recent full-year results were strong, but we see this sale as significant enough to warrant extra investor caution.
Algy Hall
Director buys
Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Best of the Best | William Hindmarch (ceo) | 22 Mar 12 | 25,000 | 22 | 5,500 |
Best of the Best | Rupert Garton | 22 Mar 12 | 25,000 | 22 | 5,500 |
Caledonia Investment | WP Wyatt | 21 Mar 12 | 4,000 | 1536.5 | 61,460 |
Capital Shopping Centres | John Whittaker | 21 Mar 12 | 300,000 | 350.4916 | 1,051,475 |
Edinburgh UK Tracker | Kevin Ingram | 20 Mar 12 | 7,517 | 266 | 19,995 |
Energy Assets | Philip Bellamy-Lee (ceo) | 22 Mar 12 | 5,000 | 199.9 | 9,995 |
Energy Assets | Russell Gibson (coo) | 22 Mar 12 | 5,000 | 200.3 | 10,015 |
Energy Assets | David Macfarlane | 22 Mar 12 | 7,000 | 202.9 | 14,203 |
Energy Assets | Dr Christopher masters | 23 Mar 12 | 10,000 | 199 | 19,900 |
Enterprise Inns | RM Walker | 23 Mar 12 | 150,000 | 52.5 | 78,750 |
Enterprise Inns | RM Walker | 26 Mar 12 | 75,000 | 53.25 | 39,938 |
Games Workshop | Tom Kirby (ch) | 23 Mar 12 | 185,000 | 534.57 | 988,955 |
Geong | Henry Tse (ch) | 27 Mar 12 | 8,450 | 16.5 | 1,394 |
HaloSource | Martin Coles (ceo) | 21 Mar 12 | 130,000 | 22.5 | 29,250 |
Helius Energy | Angus MacDonald | 20 Mar 12 | 850,000 | 12.75 | 108,375 |
Interior Services | Richard Whittington | 23 Mar 12 | 29,000 | 135 | 39,150 |
London Stock Exchange | Kevin Milne | 22 Mar 12 | 3,000 | 1002.338 | 30,070 |
Medusa Mining | Peter Hepburn-Brown (md) | 20 Mar 12 | 2,000 | A$25.18 | A$10,360 |
Medusa Mining | Robert Weinberg | 22 Mar 12 | 2,500 | 334.2 | 8,355 |
Micro Focus | Tom Virden | 23 Mar 12 | 5,440 | 461.8 | 25,122 |
Microgen | Vanda Murray | 23 Mar 12 | 2,000 | 146.7 | 2,934 |
MirLand Development | Eliezer Fishman | 21 Mar 12 | 13,794 | 176 | 24,277 |
Premier Foods | Iwan Williams (md) | 19 Mar 12 | 170,302 | 11.65 | 19,840 |
Premier Foods | Andrew McDonald (cs) | 21 Mar 12 | 41,086 | 12.09 | 4,967 |
Premier Foods | Richard Johnson | 23 Mar 12 | 200,000 | 13.15 | 26,300 |
Progressive Digital media | Mark Freebairn | 21 Mar 12 | 349,600 | 15.65 | 54,712 |
Quindell Portfolio | Robert Terry (ch ceo) | 20 Mar 12 | 500,000 | 8 | 40,000 |
Quindell Portfolio | Laurence Moorse (fd) | 20 Mar 12 | 100,000 | 8 | 8,000 |
Randgold Resources | Robert Israel | 22 Mar 12 | 1,000 | US$91.479 | US$91,479 |
Randgold Resources | Robert Israel | 23 Mar 12 | 500 | US$88.51 | US$44,255 |
Randgold Resources | Andrew Quinn | 22 Mar 12 | 600 | US$91.879 | US$55,127 |
Renew | David Forbes | 23 Mar 12 | 20,000 | 73.4 | 14,680 |
SABMillar | GC Bible | 19 Mar 12 | 1,350 | 2608.83 | 35,219 |
SABMillar | JA Manzoni | 23 Mar 12 | 543 | 2562.057 | 13,912 |
Schroder UK Growth | Bob Cowdell | 20 Mar 12 | 8,050 | 131.37 | 10,575 |
Shanks | Peter Johnson | 22 Mar 12 | 9,977 | 99.75 | 9,952 |
Small Companies Dividend Trust | Lord Lamont | 26 Mar 12 | 9,600 | 101.7 | 9,763 |
SSE | Jeremy Beeton | 21 Mar 12 | 1,000 | 1314 | 13,140 |
Throgmorton Trust | Lord Latymer | 26 Mar 12 | 15,076 | 195 | 29,398 |
Weir | Alan Ferguson | 26 Mar 12 | 2,730 | 1829.66 | 49,950 |
West African Mineral | Guy Elliott | 26 Mar 12 | 500,000 | 18 | 90,000 |
Xchanging | David Bauernfeind | 22 Mar 12 | 47,200 | 97.5 | 46,020 |
Director sells
Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brooks Macdonald | Chris Macdonald (ceo) | 21 Mar 12 | 150,000 | 1,275 | 1,912,500 |
Brooks Macdonald | Richard Spencer | 21 Mar 12 | 130,000 | 1,275 | 1,657,500 |
Brooks Macdonald | Jonathan Gumpel | 21 Mar 12 | 105,000 | 1,275 | 1,338,750 |
Computacenter | Stephen Banadé | 22 Mar 12 | 4,964 | 430.00 | 21,345 |
Delcam | Edward Lambourne | 26 Mar 12 | 1,333 | 754 | 10,055 |
Fidessa | Alistair Cairns | 19 Mar 12 | 500 | 1,699 | 8,496 |
Gulf Keystone Petroleum | Mehdi Varzi | 23 Mar 12 | 257,347 | 254.17 | 654,099 |
Lancashire | Robert Spass | 23 Mar 12 | 82,000 | US$12.02 | US$985,640 |
Mears | Bob Halt (ch) | 22 Mar 12 | 2,000,000 | 250.00 | 5,000,000 |
Polar Capital | TJ Woolley (ceo) | 21 Mar 12 | 500,000 | 200 | 1,000,000 |
Premier Foods | Charles Miller Smith (d ch) | 19 Mar 12 | 680,272 | 11 | 76,531 |
Unilever | PL Sigismondi | 23 Mar 12 | 500 | 2,049.00 | 10,245 |
Xchanging | David Bauernfeind | 23 Mar 12 | 22,000 | 95.13 | 20,928 |
Xstrata | Thras Moraitis | 22 Mar 12 | 110,860 | 1,110.00 | 1,230,546 |
Table compiled by Robert Ansted.
Key to abbreviations: ch = chairman; ce = chief executive; cfo = chief financial officer; fd = finance director; coo = chief operating officer; cs =company secretary; md = managing director