Personal Group has been growing steadily since it started out in 1986, and continues to attract new business through its range of employee benefits. These are targeted mainly towards blue collar workers and include hospital and convalescence plans, death benefit and income protection. These are just a few of the comprehensive range of programmes on offer, and collecting premiums is made easier for the group as they are usually taken at source from employees’ wages.
Turnover for Personal Group last year rose to £27.5m, giving pre-tax profits of £10m. And business continues to grow under the stewardship of Mark Scanlon, who took up the reins as chief executive late last year. Meanwhile, 62 year old deputy chairman and main board director Kenneth Rooney, who joined the group in 1999 and served as group chief executive for five years between 2003 and 2008, has more than halved his stake in the company by selling 148,763 shares at 305p, leaving him with 112,123 shares.
Booley takes his medicine
A big capital gains tax bill from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs meant a notably big sale of shares at pharmaceuticals seller Alliance Pharma, part of entrepreneur Nigel Wray's business empire. Executive director Richard Booley sold 1.4m shares in the company at an average price of 27p, although he still retains 2.25 per cent stake in the company.
Isaly takes profit in BGT
Samuel Isaly, co-owner of OrbiMed Capital, the fund management company which runs the Biotech Growth Trust, has recently sold 1.2m shares in the trust worth £3m or around 3.8 per cent of the total. He now has 300,000 shares worth around 0.5 per cent of the trust.
A spokesperson at Frostrow, the trust’s administrator, said that Mr Isaly had sold down this large holding because he needs the cash for personal reasons and it is “absolutely nothing to do with his views on the market.” The spokesperson emphasised that the other directors continue to hold shares, in particular Sven Borho, also a co-owner of OrbiMed.
Director buys
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3i Infrastructure | Florence Pierre | 13 Jun 12 | 5,000 | 123.2 | 6,160 |
| Alpha Pyrenees Trust | Bradley Bauman | 11 Jun 12 | 41,569 | 16 | 6,651 |
| Aveva | Philip Aiken (d ch) | 11 Jun 12 | 1,000 | 1,643 | 16,430 |
| Bank of Georgia | David Morrison | 12 Jun 12 | 6,000 | 1,105 | 66,300 |
| Bezant Resources | Bernard Olivier (ceo) | 13-18 Jun 12 | 52,000 | 23 | 11,960 |
| Burberry | Ian Carter | 14 Jun 12 | 4,000 | 1,310 | 52,400 |
| Caledonia Investment | CM Allen-Jones | 12 Jun 12 | 7,773 | 1,280 | 99,494 |
| Camper & Nicholsons Marina | Nicholas Maris | 11 Jun 12 | 35,000 | 12.929 | 4,525 |
| Camper & Nicholsons Marina | Sir Christopher Lewinton (ch) | 08 Jun 12 | 25,000 | 12 | 3,000 |
| Chesnara | Ken Romney | 11 Jun 12 | 9,000 | 174.61 | 15,715 |
| Circle Oil | Nicholas Clayton | 14 Jun 12 | 120,000 | 17.36 | 20,832 |
| CML Microsystems | Ronald Shashoua | 12 Jun 12 | 1,000 | 275 | 2,750 |
| CML Microsystems | Ronald Shashoua | 12 Jun 12 | 2,000 | 270 | 5,400 |
| Consort Medical | Richard Cotton | 14 Jun 12 | 8,765 | 605 | 53,028 |
| Dunedin Income Growth Inv Trust | Elisabeth Scott | 12 Jun 12 | 4,800 | 208 | 9,984 |
| Eden Research | Sir Ben Gill (ch) | 13 Jun 12 | 187,000 | 13 | 24,310 |
| G4S | John Connolly (ch) | 11 Jun 12 | 100,000 | 278.6 | 278,600 |
| Glencore International | Ivan Glasenberg | 11 Jun 12 | 2,700,000 | 364.8107 | 9,849,889 |
| Global Energy Development | Stephen Voss | 14 Jun 12 | 7,000 | 86.5 | 6,055 |
| Graphite Enterprise | Mr Fane | 15 Jun 12 | 10,000 | 376.5 | 37,650 |
| Hanger 8 | Nigel Payne | 11 Jun 12 | 7,600 | 90 | 6,840 |
| Hanger 8 | George Rolls | 11 Jun 12 | 7,600 | 90 | 6,840 |
| Impax Environmental Markets | Julia Le Blan | 11 Jun 12 | 5,000 | 96.625 | 4,831 |
| International Personal Finance | John Lorimer | 13 Jun 12 | 10,000 | 232.2975 | 23,230 |
| IPPlus | William Catchpole (ceo) | 12 Jun 12 | 50,000 | 9.25 | 4,625 |
| Lloyds Banking | Cathy Turner | 08 Jun 12 | 1,789,436 | 28.01 | 501,221 |
| Lloyds Banking | Lord Blackwell | 12 Jun 12 | 50,000 | 28.59 | 14,295 |
| Lowland Investment Company | Robert Robertson | 14 Jun 12 | 5,000 | 848 | 42,400 |
| Management Consultancy | Alan Barber (ch) | 15 Jun 12 | 25,323 | 22 | 5,571 |
| Management Consulting | Nick Stag | 13 Jun 12 | 100,000 | 21.724 | 21,724 |
| Martin Currie Global Portfolio Trust | Benjamin Thomson | 11 Jun 12 | 23,600 | 127 | 29,972 |
| McBride | Richard Armitage | 15 Jun 12 | 20,000 | 109.62 | 21,924 |
| McBride | Neil Harrington | 18 Jun 12 | 15,000 | 109.8 | 16,470 |
| North Atlantic Smaller Cos Inv Trust | Christopher Mills | 12 Jun 12 | 9,853 | 925 | 91,140 |
| Oxford Advanced Surfaces | Peter Rowley (ch) | 15 Jun 12 | 99,502 | 10 | 9,950 |
| Sainsbury, J | John Rogers | 13 Jun 12 | 17,850 | 280.138 | 50,005 |
| Scottish Mortgage | Dr L Yueh | 08 Jun 12 | 548 | 653 | 3,578 |
| Secure Trust Bank | Neeraj Kapur (cfo) | 11 Jun 12 | 1,000 | 1,040 | 10,400 |
| Secure Trust Bank | Paul Lynam (ceo) | 12 Jun 12 | 2,200 | 1,040 | 22,880 |
| Secure Trust Bank | Andrew Salmon | 12 Jun 12 | 7,500 | 1,040 | 78,000 |
| Severfield-Rowen | Tom Haughey (ceo) | 11 Jun 12 | 20,000 | 147.15 | 29,430 |
| Severfield-Rowen | Alan Dunsmore (fd) | 12 Jun 12 | 5,000 | 152.5 | 7,625 |
| Spirit Pub | Mike Tye (ceo) | 12 Jun 12 | 109,289 | 45.75 | 50,000 |
| Summit Corporation | George Elliott | 14 Jun 12 | 150,000 | 2.68 | 4,020 |
| Swallowfield | Stephen Boyd (ch) | 13 Jun 12 | 5,000 | 120 | 6,000 |
| Tesco | Rebecca Shelley | 08 Jun 12 | 14,967 | 300.15 | 44,923 |
| Thomas Cook | Frank Meysman | 15 Jun 12 | 100,000 | 17.29 | 17,290 |
| Tower Resources | Philip Swatman | 15 Jun 12 | 1,500,000 | 3.05 | 45,750 |
| Tristel | Paul Swinney (ceo) | 15 Jun 12 | 10,000 | 28.5 | 2,850 |
| Tullow Oil | Tutu Agyare | 13 Jun 12 | 1,940 | 1,462.65 | 28,375 |
| Unicorn Aim VCT | Jocelin Harris | 13 Jun 12 | 20,221 | 66 | 13,346 |
| Weir | Rosemary Campbell | 12 Jun 12 | 2,000 | 1,420.8 | 28,416 |
| Winkworth, M | Dominic Agace (ceo) | 13 Jun 12 | 1,650 | 85 | 1,403 |
| Yule Catto | Ishbel MacPherson | 12 Jun 12 | 5,449 | 183.5 | 9,999 |
Director sells
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alliance Pharma | Richard Booley | 13 Jun 12 | 1,400,000 | 27 | 378,000 |
| Big Yellow | Nicholas Vetch (ch) | 13 Jun 12 | 20,000 | 286 | 57,200 |
| Biotech Growth Trust | Samuel Isaly | 11 Jun 12 | 350,000 | 255 | 892,500 |
| Biotech Growth Trust | Samuel Isaly | 13 Jun 12 | 500,000 | 254.25 | 1,271,250 |
| Mid Wynd Int'l Inv Trust | PMS Barron | 13 Jun 12 | 5,000 | 231 | 11,550 |
| Ovoca Gold | Timothy McCutcheon | 13 Jun 12 | 20,000 | €0.14 | €2,800 |
| Pennon | Kenneth Woodier | 14 Jun 12 | 9,120 | 743.45 | 67,803 |
| Personal Group | Kenneth Rooney (d ch) | 13 Jun 12 | 148,763 | 305 | 453,727 |
| SABMiller | Ari Mervis | 18 Jun 12 | 20,000 | 2,471 | 494,200 |
| Tikit | Mike McGoun (ch) | 15 Jun 12 | 100,000 | 307.25 | 307,250 |
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
