With final results out of the way and a £1.4bn profit in the bag, it’s time for lucky Rolls-Royce (RR.) directors to cash in lucrative share option packages.
This year, however, the usual paper forms for Rolls-Royce were replaced with a new electronic system and it seems to have caught out a number of the engineer’s busy executives. Under the company’s performance share plans, enough stock is always sold automatically to cover any tax obligation and directors then choose whether to sell any of what’s left. Some missed the cut-off point for online orders this time, which meant their deals were reported to the London Stock Exchange separately rather than grouped together in the usual way. That certainly appears to explain the sale of 44,000 shares by operations director Alain Michaelis and £478,000 disposal by John Paterson, president of Rolls’ marine & industrial power systems division, rather than a signal to jump ship.
Lee Wild
Budget cuts have not stemmed Abcam’s share price
Worries over the effect of budget cuts in the US on medical research have done little to harm Abcam’s (ABC) share price, with the medical protein supplier currently nearing a five-year high. It was unsurprising, then, that chief executive and founder Dr Jonathan Milner took the opportunity to offload a decent slug of shares, 974,000 at 450p, to raise over £4.3m. Dr Milner has been with Abcam since the company's early beginnings and despite the sale he still owns more than 26m shares in it. Dr Milner’s decision to sell merely reinforces our view that the shares are due a pause.
Julian Hofmann
Buys
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Total shares held | Value (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha Pyrenees | Richard Kingston | 18 Mar 13 | 511,491 | 5.9 | 30,178 | 710,616 | 0.604 |
| Amati VCT | Peter Lawrence | 12 Mar 13 | 42,402 | 73.58 | 31,199 | 237,480 | 0.5 |
| Amati VCT | Brian Scouler | 12 Mar 13 | 14,134 | 73.58 | 10,400 | 27,686 | 0.06 |
| Amati VCT 2 | Julian Avery | 12 Mar 13 | 9,120 | 114.03 | 10,400 | 72,872 | 0.26 |
| Amati VCT 2 | Mike Killingley | 12 Mar 13 | 9,120 | 114.03 | 10,400 | 45,271 | 0.16 |
| Amati VCT 2 | Christopher Macdonald | 12 Mar 13 | 9,120 | 114.03 | 10,400 | 36,529 | 0.13 |
| Aviva | Mark Wilson | 12 Mar 13 | 150,000 | 321.1113 | 481,667 | 150,000 | - |
| Beale | Willliam Tuffy | 14 Mar 13 | 10,000 | 20.5 | 2,050 | 10,000 | 0.049 |
| Big Yellow | Nicholas Vetch (ch) | 15 Mar 13 | 4,000 | 370.75 | 14,830 | 9,173,157 | - |
| BT | Tony Ball | 06 Mar 13 | 5,000 | 268.69 | 13,435 | 20,000 | - |
| bwin.party digital entertainment | Norbert Teufelberger (ceo) | 15 Mar 13 | 204,000 | 143.34 | 292,414 | 12,502,427 | 1.55 |
| bwin.party digital entertainment | Geoff Baldwin | 15 Mar 13 | 226,000 | 147.83 | 334,096 | 326,000 | 0.04 |
| bwin.party digital entertainment | Geoff Baldwin | 18 Mar 13 | 74,000 | 148.02 | 109,535 | 400,000 | 0.05 |
| Chrysalis VCT | Christopher Kay | 18 Mar 13 | 10,000 | 59.5 | 5,950 | 314,800 | 1.06 |
| Communisis | John Wells | 18 Mar 13 | 10,000 | 54.635 | 5,464 | 241,371 | 0.126 |
| CVS | Nick Perrin (fd) | 14 Mar 13 | 3,000 | 189 | 5,670 | 6,000 | 0.01 |
| Electrocomponents | Karen Guerra | 12 Mar 13 | 7,525 | 265.3 | 19,964 | 7,525 | - |
| Electrocomponents | John Pattullo | 18 Mar 13 | 10,000 | 257.07 | 25,707 | 10,000 | - |
| Gable | William Dewsall (cfo) | 14 Mar 13 | 51,000 | 49.25 | 25,118 | 24,650,022 | 21.75 |
| Hardy Oil & Gas | Ian MacKenzie (ceo) | 14 Mar 13 | 102,969 | 120 | 123,563 | 352,969 | 0.48 |
| Hardy Oil & Gas | Peter Milne | 14 Mar 13 | 100,000 | 120 | 120,000 | 130,000 | 0.18 |
| Impellam | Lincoln Jopp | 14 Mar 13 | 2,298 | 435 | 9,996 | 2,298 | 0.005 |
| Intu Properties | John Whittaker | 12 Mar 13 | 60,000 | 328.25 | 196,950 | 189,872,258 | 19.89 |
| Intu Properties | John Whittaker | 14 Mar 19 | 90,000 | 331.1 | 297,990 | 189,962,258 | 23.94 |
| Meggitt | Philip Cox | 18 Mar 13 | 6,000 | 476.6 | 28,596 | 6,000 | 0.0007 |
| Meggitt | Guy Berruyer | 18 Mar 13 | 3,000 | 476.6 | 14,298 | 30,000 | 0.0004 |
| Meggitt | Luke Durudogan | 18 Mar 13 | 7,836 | 478 | 37,456 | 7,836 | 0.0009 |
| Nighthawk Energy | Stuart Eaton | 14 Mar 13 | 250,000 | 3.95 | 9,875 | 1,246,500 | 0.13 |
| Obtala Resources | Simon Roallason (md) | 18 Mar 13 | 221,260 | 9.03 | 19,980 | 556,260 | 0.22 |
| PureCircle | William Mitchell (cfo) | 13 Mar 13 | 40,000 | 255 | 102,000 | 797,000 | - |
| PureCircle | William Mitchell (cfo) | 18 Mar 13 | 10,000 | 252 | 25,200 | 807,000 | - |
| Quarto | Marcus Leaver (ceo) | 12 Mar 13 | 10,000 | 148.5 | 14,850 | 10,000 | 0.05 |
| SABMiller | MH Armour | 12 Mar 13 | 3,000 | 3470.5 | 104,115 | - | - |
| StatPro | Carl Bacon (ch) | 14 Mar 13 | 5,000 | 82.78 | 4,139 | 800,000 | 1.19 |
| Target Healthcare Reit | Thomas Hutchison III | 07 Mar 13 | 29,998 | 100 | 29,998 | 29,998 | 0.066 |
| Target Healthcare Reit | Robert Naish | 07 Mar 13 | 15,000 | 100 | 15,000 | 15,000 | 0.03 |
| Target Healthcare Reit | Gordon Coull | 07 Mar 13 | 11,000 | 100 | 11,000 | 11,000 | 0.024 |
| Treatt | Richard Hope (fd) | 12 Mar 13 | 277 | 429 | 1,188 | 11,824 | 0.11 |
| Volex | Ray Walsh (ceo) | 13 Mar 13 | 32,286 | 97 | 31,317 | 250,000 | 0.4 |
| Wincanton | Adrian Colman | 18 Mar 13 | 18,064 | 55 | 9,935 | 36,000 | - |
| Witan Investment Trust | Andrew Bell | 14 Mar 13 | 10,000 | 594.5 | 59,450 | 120,000 | 0.063 |
| Wood Group | Mary Shafer-Malicki | 11 Mar 13 | 2,000 | US$13.05 | US$26,100 | 2,000 | 0.0005 |
Sells
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Total shares held | Value (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 888 | John Anderson | 13 Mar 13 | 450,000 | 155.00 | 697,500 | 138,869 | 0.04 |
| Abcam | Dr Jonathan Milner | 18 Mar 13 | 974,000 | 450.50 | 4,387,870 | 26,883,469 | - |
| Consort Medical | Lisa King | 11 Mar 13 | 2,800 | 748 | 20,944 | 6,399 | - |
| Croda | Keith Layden | 14 Mar 13 | 400 | 2,684.54 | 10,738 | - | - |
| G4S | Søren Lundsberg-Nielsen | 19 Mar 13 | 26,000 | 197.10 | 51,246 | - | - |
| Grainger | Andrew Cunningham | 12 Mar 13 | 25,124 | 135.80 | 34,118 | 1,173,240 | 0.28 |
| Hardy Oil & Gas | Yogeshwar Sharma | 14 Mar 13 | 1,000,000 | 120.00 | 1,200,000 | 3,158,135 | 4.324 |
| HSBC | SP O'Sullivan | 14 Mar 13 | 60,000 | 734.00 | 440,400 | - | - |
| Jupiter Fund Management | Edward Bonham Carter | 15 Mar 13 | 750,000 | 350.75 | 2,630,631 | 13,000,000 | 2.8403 |
| Jupiter Second Split Trust | Richard Pavry | 15 Mar 13 | 4,088 | 29.50 | 1,206 | 59,952 | 0.00924 |
| Morgan Crucible | Andrew Riley | 08 Mar 13 | 30,000 | 299.50 | 89,850 | 55,742 | 0.02 |
| Paddy Power | Jack Massey (cs) | 11 Mar 13 | 44,799 | E65.5 | E2,934335 | - | - |
| Polar Capital | Brian Ashford-Russell | 12 Mar 13 | 1,000,000 | 265.00 | 2,650,000 | 7,000,000 | 8.75 |
| Polar Capital | Tim Woolley | 12 Mar 13 | 500,000 | 265.00 | 1,325,000 | 6,000,000 | 7.5 |
| Polar Capital | John Mansell | 12 Mar 13 | 8,000 | 265.00 | 21,200 | 1,872,000 | 2.34 |
| Provident Financial | Andrew Fisher | 12 Mar 13 | 5,000 | 1,645 | 82,250 | 349,666 | 0.252 |
| Provident Financial | John Moulding | 15 Mar 13 | 1,824 | 1,550.44 | 28,280 | 15,295 | 0.011 |
| Rathbone Brothers | Clive Hexton | 18 Mar 13 | 776 | 1,483.50 | 11,512 | 78,071 | 0.169 |
| Restaurant Group | Robert Morgan (cs) | 14 Mar 13 | 96,661 | 441 | 426,275 | 45,694 | 0.02 |
| Rolls-Royce | Alain Michaelis | 15 Mar 13 | 44,000 | 1,094 | 481,360 | 48,252 | 0.0026 |
| Rolls-Royce | John Paterson | 13 Mar 13 | 45,000 | 1061.774 | 477,798 | 69,556 | 0.0037 |
| Xstrata | Trevor Reid | 14 Mar 13 | 250,000 | 1,159 | 2,897,500 | - | - |
| Xstrata | Trevor Reid | 15 Mar 13 | 250,000 | 1,162 | 2,905,000 | - | - |
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
