Burford Capital makes a living by financing corporate litigation. It is very choosy about which companies it offers financing to, and the resulting benefits are clear to see, with pre-tax profits last year soaring to $15.9m (£9.9m) from 2010's $1.85m.
And the cases being sponsored by Burford Capital are delivering impressive rates of return. We tipped the shares at 127p (2 February 2012) and they reached a high of 146p in March, but then market malaise pulled the price right back to 111p. This looks far too cheap, and Burford vice-chairman Hugh Steven Wilson seems to agree, buying two lots of 25,000 shares at 112p and taking his holding to 150,000.
Mills uses his bread
Christopher Mills, fund manager and director of North Atlantic Smaller Companies investment trust, has purchased 12,750 of its shares at a price of 950p each. This takes his total holding in the trust to 3.26m shares or 23.13 per cent.
Mr Mills is taking advantage of the share price which is currently at a discount to net asset value (NAV) of more than 31 per cent. He says the unquoted holdings, about 30 per cent of assets, are doing well and should have a positive impact on the NAV over the next year. There should also be realisations from these in the next couple of years.
Over the past year the NAV and share price have made negative returns.
Read our profile on North Atlantic Smaller Companies at:- http://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/2012/01/16/funds-and-etfs/fund-profiles/north-atlantic-small-cap-s-manager-highly-investedQzkOdQH9d5hvBY4bi46hBI/article.html
Halford causes a stir
Vodafone chief financial officer Andrew Halford caused a stir last week by offloading almost half of his stake in the mobile communication business. Mr Halford, who took his seat on the board in 2005, sold 976,056 ordinary shares in the company on 23 May at 171.624p each, and another 23,944 ordinary shares at 170.46p apiece later that day, netting himself £1,715,961. His move may have been personally motivated as Vodafone remains a solid investment, with cash profits steadily growing and supporting the attractive (and rising) dividend. Accordingly, we maintain our buy rating on the shares – largely due to the 5.5 per cent yield.
Director buys
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ablon | Uri Heller (ceo) | 21 May 12 | 10,000 | 24 | 2,400 |
| Ablon | Adrienn Lovro (d ceo) | 22 May 12 | 5,000 | 24 | 1,200 |
| Ablon | Adrienn Lovro (d ceo) | 24 May 12 | 15,000 | 24 | 3,600 |
| Anglo American | Jack Thompson | 22 May 12 | 2,000* | US$16.35 | US$32,700 |
| Bahamas Petroleum | Adrian Collins (ch) | 22 May 12 | 200,000 | 7.12 | 14,240 |
| Burberry | Stephanie George | 24 May 12 | 7,000 | US$21.7 | US$151,900 |
| Burford Capital | Steven Wilson | 23 May 12 | 25,000 | 112 | 28,000 |
| Burford Capital | Steven Wilson | 24 May 12 | 25,000 | 112 | 28,000 |
| Coastal Energy | Olivier de Montal | 18 May 12 | 10,000 | Can$13 | Can$130,000 |
| Debenhams | Simon Herrick | 22 May 12 | 13,250 | 74.538 | 9,876 |
| Debenhams | Michael Sharp | 22 May 12 | 100,000 | 74.32 | 74,320 |
| Dechra Pharmaceuticals | Dr Chris Richards | 22 May 12 | 2,200 | 462.88 | 10,183 |
| Empresaria | Anthony Martin (ch) | 22 May 12 | 55,000 | 34.09 | 18,750 |
| FirstGroup | Martin Gilbert | 23 May 12 | 50,000 | 217.5 | 108,750 |
| FirstGroup | Prof David Begg | 23 May 12 | 31,847 | 218.0519 | 69,443 |
| Fisher, James | SC Kilpatrick | 24 May 12 | 750 | 542.5 | 4,069 |
| Grainger | Mark Greenwood | 22 May 12 | 4,550 | 95.36 | 4,339 |
| Grainger | Robin Broadhurst | 24 May 12 | 10,500 | 94.2 | 9,891 |
| HaiKe Chemical | Zhang Zaizhong (ceo) | 28 May 12 | 50,000 | 29.5 | 14,750 |
| Henderson Eurotrust | DW Marsh | 23 May 12 | 2,100 | 472.838 | 9,930 |
| Hiscox | Robert Hiscox | 23 May 12 | 3,996 | 377.738 | 15,094 |
| Imperial Innovations | Prof David Begg | 23 May 12 | 14,000 | 314.8 | 44,072 |
| Imperial Tobacco | Iain Napier (ch) | 24 May 12 | 1,213 | 2359.72 | 28,623 |
| JPMorgan Elect | James Robinson | 21 May 12 | 5,000 | 375.89 | 18,795 |
| Kcom | Martin Towers | 22 May 12 | 50,000 | 69.9-68.94 | 34,456 |
| Kcom | Martin Towers | 23 May 12 | 15,000 | 67.77 | 10,166 |
| Keystone Investment Trust | David Adams | 17 May 12 | 929 | 1201.5 | 11,162 |
| Lamprell | Colin Goodall | 22 May 12 | 44,155 | 112.1 | 49,498 |
| Lowland Investment | Robert Robertson | 24 May 12 | 5,000 | 864.73 | 43,237 |
| Mediteranean Oil & Gas | Keith Henry (ch) | 25 May 12 | 250,000 | 5.44 | 13,600 |
| Merchants Trust | Mike McKeon | 21 May 12 | 5,000 | 353.25 | 17,663 |
| Murray International | Kevin Carter | 21 May 12 | 5,000 | 907 | 45,350 |
| Murray International | Peter Dunscombe | 22 May 12 | 2,500 | 912.0132 | 22,800 |
| Mytrah Energy | Ravi Kailas (ch, ceo) | 22 May 12 | 4,000 | 79.3 | 3,172 |
| Mytrah Energy | Ravi Kailas (ch, ceo) | 25 May 12 | 26,000 | 75.5 | 19,630 |
| North Atlantic Smaller Companies | Christopher Mills | 23 May 12 | 2,750 | 950 | 26,125 |
| North Atlantic Smaller Companies | Christopher Mills | 25 May 12 | 10,000 | 950 | 95,000 |
| Northbridge Industrial Services | Peter Harris (ch) | 24 May 12 | 13,150 | 273.5 | 35,965 |
| Northbridge Industrial Services | Craig Robinson (fd) | 24 May 12 | 1,850 | 273.5 | 5,060 |
| Optos | Dr Peter Kehoe | 24 May 12 | 3,000 | 184 | 5,520 |
| Paddy Power | Stewart Kenny | 23 May 12 | 8,280 | €50.10 | €414,828 |
| RusPetro | Dr Rolf Stomberg | 25 May 12 | 20,000 | 158 | 31,600 |
| Sierra Rutile | Michael Barton | 21 May 12 | 16,000 | 59.5 | 9,520 |
| Sierra Rutile | Jan Castro (ch) | 21 May 12 | 20,000 | 59.5 | 11,900 |
| Sierra Rutile | Dr Charles Entrekin | 24 May 12 | 48,841 | 64.5 | 31,502 |
| Swallowfield | Stephen Boyd (ch) | 23 May 12 | 5,000 | 120 | 6,000 |
| Treatt | Tim Jones | 25 May 12 | 2,923 | 340 | 9,938 |
| UK Mail | Guy Buswell | 23 May 12 | 5,000 | 235 | 11,750 |
| VinaLand | Charles Isaac | 18 May 12 | 19,000 | US$0.51 | US$9,690 |
Director sells
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filtrona | Antony Edwards | 23 May 12 | 32,000 | 454.70 | 145,504 |
| Jardine Matheson | Simon Keswick | 24 May 12 | 26,000 | US$50.05246 | US$1,301,364 |
| Northbridge Industrial Services | Ash Mehta | 24 May 12 | 15,000 | 273.50 | 41,025 |
| Vodafone | Andrew Halford | 23 May 12 | 976,056 | 171.624 | 1,675,146 |
| Vodafone | Andrew Halford | 23 May 12 | 23,944 | 170.46 | 40,815 |
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
