Directors at Hardy Oil & Gas, the India-focused energy company, have been adding to their holdings, providing a rare piece of support for a share price that's plumbing new depths.
Hardy conducted a "comprehensive review" of group strategy this year, adding three new directors and retiring three old ones in the process. But the PY-3 field – the group’s only producing asset – has been offline since July due to infrastructure needing to be upgraded, and the share price is close to an all-time low.
Recently appointed chairman, Alasdair Locke and new chief executive, Ian MacKenzie, say they expect to announce the results of the review "in due course but in any event, no later than September 2012." They've bought over £250,000 worth of stock in the meantime.
They could be worth watching - Mr Locke previously ran Abbot Group, an oil services company that he sold for £906m in 2008 – but without a clear idea yet of how the group plans to move forward, the shares remain a hold.
Matthew Allan
Sanderson builds up his stake
Nick Sanderson joined Great Portland Estates last year as finance director and has since been building his shareholding – including picking up nearly 81,000 shares for 385p last week. The price of the shares has slipped to 367p in the volatile days since, but in the longer term we think his bet will come off; we tipped Great Portland at 368p back in March.
Not only does the company operate in the West End – almost certainly Europe’s most resilient property market, with extremely tight planning combined with very deep pools both of tenants and of investors. But it also has a strong track record as a developer. On June 1 it bought a pair of 1950s office in St James' from Henderson, for example. These provide a decent income in the short term and a refurbishment opportunity in the longer term – typical of the way Great Portland makes money.
Stephen Wilmot
Director buys
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen Smaller Cos | James West | 30 May 12 | 26,640 | 117 | 31,169 |
| Ablon | Adrienn Lovro (d ceo) | 06 Jun 12 | 15,000 | 21.63 | 3,245 |
| Ablon | Adrienn Lovro (d ceo) | 07 Jun 12 | 10,000 | 21.75 | 2,175 |
| AquaSource | Eamon Delahunt | 01 Jun 12 | 500,000 | 1.5 | 7,500 |
| Brewin Dolphin | Simon Miller | 08 Jun 12 | 10,000 | 140.7 | 14,070 |
| Camper & Nicholsons | Nicholas Maris (ch, ceo) | 07 Jun 12 | 50,000 | 10.475 | 5,238 |
| Chesnara | Graham Kettleborough | 01 Jun 12 | 10,000 | 156.49 | 15,649 |
| CLS | Thomas Lundqvist | 30 May 12 | 926 | 591 | 5,473 |
| Conygar Investment | Nigel Hamway (ch) | 31 May 12 | 8,259 | 88.52 | 7,311 |
| Debenhams | Simon Herrick | 08 Jun 12 | 13,000 | 77.413 | 10,064 |
| Fenner | Nicholas Hobson | 01 Jun 12 | 1,000 | 349.76 | 3,498 |
| Great Portland Estates | Nick Sanderson | 07 Jun 12 | 21,000 | 384.6 | 80,766 |
| Halfords | David Adams | 01 Jun 12 | 6,000 | 239.3 | 14,358 |
| Halfords | Dennis Millard | 31 May 12 | 7,500 | 249.1 | 18,683 |
| Hanger 8 | Philip Brady (cfo) | 07 Jun 12 | 8,633 | 85.425 | 7,375 |
| Hanger 8 | Nigel Payne (ch) | 07 Jun 12 | 8,634 | 85.425 | 7,376 |
| Hanger 8 | George Rolls | 07 Jun 12 | 8,633 | 85.425 | 7,375 |
| Hardy Oil & Gas | Alasdair Locke (ch) | 01 Jun 12 | 75,000 | 125 | 93,750 |
| Hardy Oil & Gas | Ian MacKenzie (ceo) | 07 Jun 12 | 150,000 | 115 | 172,500 |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | Dharmash Mistry | 01 Jun 12 | 5,308 | 468.5 | 24,868 |
| Headlam | G Waldron | 29 May 12 | 15,000 | 276 | 41,400 |
| IFG | Conleth O'Reilly | 01 Jun 12 | 32,420 | €1.298816 | €42,108 |
| Inspired Energy | Robert Holt (ch) | 01 Jun 12 | 233,333 | 3.4 | 7,933 |
| ITE | Marco Sodi (ch) | 01 Jun 12 | 25,000 | 184 | 46,000 |
| Ladbrokes | Ian Bull | 31 May 12 | 6,400 | 169.15 | 10,826 |
| Mastermailer | Bryan Fisher | 31 May 12 | 200,000 | 1 | 2,000 |
| Maven Income & Growth VCT 3 | William Nixon | 31 May 12 | 15,446 | 72 | 11,121 |
| Mechan Controls | Wilf Boardman | 31 May 12 | 4,000 | 230 | 9,200 |
| Mecom | Michael Hutchinson | 06 Jun 12 | 38,000 | 78 | 29,640 |
| Mecom | Tom Toumazis | 07 Jun 12 | 32,894 | 76 | 24,999 |
| Mecom | Gerry Aherne | 06 Jun 12 | 20,000 | 73 | 14,600 |
| Mecom | Stephen Davidson | 07 Jun 12 | 20,000 | 78 | 15,600 |
| Mecom | Zillah Byng-Maddick | 08 Jun 12 | 15,039 | 74.19 | 11,157 |
| Nighthawk Energy | Stephen Gutteridge (ch) | 01 Jun 12 | 300,000 | 3.05 | 9,150 |
| Nighthawk Energy | Richard Swindells (cfo) | 01 Jun 12 | 112,500 | 3.1 | 3,488 |
| Ocean Wilsons | Chris Townsend | 01 Jun 12 | 2,500 | 1050 | 26,250 |
| Paragon Diamonds | Simon Retter | 06 Jun 12 | 94,341 | 21.2 | 20,000 |
| Renew | Roy Harrison (ch) | 08 Jun 12 | 50,000 | 74 | 37,000 |
| Renold | John Atkins | 01 Jun 12 | 75,000 | 33.5 | 25,125 |
| RIT Capital Partners | WT Winters | 07 Jun 12 | 8,820 | 1,140/1,152 | 101,603 |
| RIT Capital Partners | Lord Douro | 06 Jun 12 | 5,000 | 1130 | 56,500 |
| Rolls-Royce | Iain Conn | 07 Jun 12 | 308 | 803.5 | 2,475 |
| RSM Tenon | TCW Ingram (ch) | 08 Jun 12 | 1,000,000 | 5.25 | 52,500 |
| Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust | JPHS Scott | 01 Jun 12 | 1,767 | 635 | 11,220 |
| SVG Capital | Lynn Fordham | 31 May 12 | 6,330 | 259.4 | 16,420 |
| Telecity | Michael Tobin (ceo) | 06 Jun 12 | 2,000 | 781.25 | 15,625 |
| Thomas Cook | Roger Burnell | 06 Jun 12 | 60,000 | 18.16 | 10,896 |
| Thomas Cook | Peter Marks | 01 Jun 12 | 56,064 | 17.748 | 9,950 |
| Wheelsure | David Vile | 01 Jun 12 | 100,000 | 2.4 | 2,400 |
| Yule Catto | Dato Lee Hau Hian | 06 Jun 12 | 20,000 | 189.5 | 37,900 |
| Yule Catto | Dr Just Jansz | 08 Jun 12 | 10,000 | 190 | 19,000 |
Director sells
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AquaSource | Sian Lewis | 01 Jun 12 | 333,333 | 1.50 | 5,000 |
| AquaSource | Oliver Spurling | 01 Jun 12 | 166,667 | 1.50 | 2,500 |
| Baronsmead VCT | Peter Lawrence | 08 Jun 12 | 24,360 | 67 | 16,199 |
| British American Tobacco | JP Daly | 08 Jun 12 | 40,000 | 3,100.00 | 1,240,000 |
| Raven Russia | Anton Bilton (d ch) | 01 Jun 12 | 500,000 | 60 | 300,000 |
| SABMiller | NT Fell | 01 Jun 12 | 28,800 | 2,380 | 685,440 |
| SABMiller | KG Lippert | 01 Jun 12 | 13,000 | 2,381.36 | 309,576 |
| Tracsis | Raymond Kwan | 01 Jun 12 | 750,000 | 75 | 562,500 |
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
