Training and publishing specialist Wilmington's share price has shot up by more than 40 per cent since July. Executive director Tony Foye clearly feels there’s more growth to be had as the company shifts from print to higher-margin digital output.
Mr Foye stumped up £0.5m for 385,000 shares on 10 October, at 130p, increasing his holding to 435,000 shares (0.51 per cent of the company). It is by far the biggest financial commitment made by a Wilmington director in recent years, although Mr Foye may well rue the fact that he didn’t make his move at the same time as Neil Smith, the company’s chief operating officer. Mr Smith bought two batches of 10,000 shares in July when they were trading under 90p.
Wilmington posted a solid set of financials for the year ending 30 June. About half of group turnover comes from its publishing and information division, where operating profit jumped 15 per cent to £12.2m. The division’s proportion of higher-margin digital delivery accounted for 76 per cent of publishing revenue, up from 72 per cent in the previous year. Broker Numis Securities forecasts adjusted pre-tax profit of £14.5m for 2013, up from £14m.
Ken Wieland
Domino’s directors sell after update
The sale of almost £11m-worth of shares at 520p in Domino’s Pizza by non-executive directors Nigel Wray and chairman Stephen Hemsley follows a disappointing third-quarter trading update. The directors retain significant interests in the company, though - 10.6m shares in the case of Mr Wray following his 1m share sale and 2.9m for Mr Hemsley following his 1.1m share sale - and have sold large amounts of shares at lower prices in the past. Nevertheless the timing of the disposals will be uncomfortable for shareholders who have watched the share price drop 10 per cent since the recent trading update.
For most other companies, the 7.9 per cent third-quarter growth reported by Domino’s would have been viewed as impressive. However, by the high standards of the pizza delivery group, this level of growth was judged as worrying given the high valuation commanded by the shares. Indeed, it was enough to prompt us to move the shares from a buy to a hold rating. Even after the fall, at 510p the shares are valued at a heady 24 times broker Numis’s full-year EPS forecast of 21.3p.
Domino’s fourth quarter is expected to see a heavy round of store openings and a ramp-up in marketing spend, so it could alleviate some of the market’s qualms. Longer-term prospects in Germany and Switzerland could also prove very enticing. But, given the high rating, any further disappointments will still hurt.
Algy Hall
Director buys
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advance Developing Markets Fund | William Collins | 10 Oct 12 | 6,000 | 421.251167 | 25,275 |
| Alkane Energy | Roger McDowell (ch) | 10 Oct 12 | 250,000 | 21.5 | 53,750 |
| Avanti Communications | David Williams (ceo) | 10 Oct 12 | 8,100 | 305 | 24,705 |
| Avanti Communications | David Bestwick | 10 Oct 12 | 16,200 | 305 | 49,410 |
| Avanti Communications | Nigel Fox | 10 Oct 12 | 3,300 | 299 | 9,867 |
| Avanti Communications | Paul Walsh | 10 Oct 12 | 10,000 | 298.6 | 29,860 |
| Avanti Communications | John Brackenbury (ch) | 10 Oct 12 | 5,000 | 292.5 | 14,625 |
| Avanti Communications | Matthew O'Connor | 11 Oct 12 | 3,300 | 299.5 | 9,884 |
| Avanti Communications | Paul Walsh | 11 Oct 12 | 10,000 | 282.75 | 28,275 |
| BlackRock Smaller Companies | Robert Robertson | 09 Oct 12 | 10,000 | 529.5 | 52,950 |
| Cambria Automobiles | Michael Burt | 10 Oct 12 | 1,000,000 | 11.5 | 115,000 |
| Environmental Recycling Techs | David Shepley-Cuthbert (fd) | 15 Oct 12 | 500,000 | 2.13 | 10,650 |
| Goldplat | Russell Lamming (ceo) | 09 Oct 12 | 100,000 | 15.65 | 15,650 |
| Havelock Europa | Alastair Kerr | 09 Oct 12 | 64,958 | 14.75 | 9,581 |
| Hiscox | Robert Hiscox | 10 Oct 12 | 2,919 | 479 | 13,982 |
| InterQuest | Gary Ashworth (ch) | 15 Oct 12 | 18,000 | 38.9 | 7,002 |
| InterQuest | Gary Ashworth (ch) | 16 Oct 12 | 4,000 | 40.5 | 1,620 |
| Johnston Press | Ashley Highfield (ceo) | 12 Oct 12 | 90,000 | 11 | 9,900 |
| JZ Capital Partners | David Macfarlane (ch) | 10 Oct 12 | 2,000 | 404 | 8,080 |
| Morgan Crucible | Martin Flower | 15 Oct 12 | 10,000 | 222.54 | 22,254 |
| Petroceltic | Tom Hickley (cfo) | 11 Oct 12 | 350,000 | 7 | 24,500 |
| Petroceltic | Hugh McCutcheon (d ch) | 11 Oct 12 | 350,000 | 7 | 24,500 |
| Petroceltic | Brian O'Cathain (ceo) | 12 Oct 12 | 500,000 | 7.05 | 35,250 |
| ProPhotonix | Mark Blodgett (ch, ceo) | 11 Oct 12 | 30,000 | US$0.0448 | US$1,344 |
| Smiths Group | Peter Turner | 16 Oct 12 | 8,996 | 1048.1504 | 94,292 |
| Standard Life UK Sm Cos Trust | Donald MacDonald | 10 Oct 12 | 25,000 | 238.25 | 59,563 |
| Steppe Cement | Javier del Ser (ceo) | 16 Oct 12 | 650,000 | 25 | 162,500 |
| Westhouse | Christopher Getley | 10 Oct 12 | 67,927 | 17 | 11,548 |
| Westhouse | Grant Foley | 10 Oct 12 | 30,000 | 17 | 5,100 |
| Wilmington | Tony Foye | 10 Oct 12 | 385,000 | 130 | 500,500 |
Director sells
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domino's Pizza (UK & Ire) | Stephen Hemsley (ch) | 10 Oct 12 | 1,065,521 | 520 | 5,540,709 |
| Domino's Pizza (UK & Ire) | Nigel Wray | 10 Oct 12 | 1,000,000 | 520 | 5,200,000 |
| ITV | Fru Hazlitt | 10 Oct 12 | 100,000 | 91.04 | 91,040 |
| Lavendon | Mark Johnson | 11 Oct 12 | 25,000 | 144 | 36,000 |
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
