Ernst Jansen and Andrea Rosen - both non-executive directors of Lloyd's insurer Hiscox (HSX) - purchased shares in the company this month worth a total of £39,388.
The group's share price has certainly had an impressive run. It reached a five-year high at the start of the month and has jumped 14 per cent since the end of January to trade at 542p. Hiscox is certainly a high-quality insurer; with its full-year figures in February, the group reported a marked improvement in underwriting profitability after the combined ratio (of claims to premiums) improved 14 percentage points to 85.5 per cent. And with premium rates still rising on some catastrophe-exposed business classes, further progress look possible. The group's investment return reached 3.1 per cent, too - not bad in today's low interest rate world. But that re-rating has also left the shares trading on about 1.5 times Numis Securities' 369p a share estimate of end-2013 net tangible assets - not at all cheap for the Lloyd's sector. On that basis, Mr Jansen and Ms Rosen may have timed their purchases a tad too late.
John Adams
Don't follow Alpha Pyrenees' directors
The directors of embattled property investment trust Alpha Pyrenees have been buying its shares at deeply stressed prices. Non-executive director Serena Tremlett bought nearly 100,000 shares on 20 March, which at just over 5p a share cost her about £5,000. That followed a more substantial purchase by chairman Dick Kingston, who spent over £30,000.
Alpha Pyrenees (ALPH) has been one of this magazine's least successful share tips. We recommended buying at 35p in early 2009 [ALPHA PYRENEES COULD CLIMB HIGHER], after the Franco-Iberian office landlord lost two-thirds of its stock market value in the crash, but the share price since then has only continued to decline. The company axed its dividends when it announced its annual results [ALPHA PYRENEES AXES DIVIDENDS] in mid-March, causing the share price to halve to about 5p-6p. Having downgraded our advice to hold [DEBT CLIFF AT ALPHA PYRENEES] in March 2012, we finally recommended investors sell out.
These two directors have taken the opposite view. While the company has not responded to our requests for comment, we assume the directors must be speculating on the break-up value of Alpha Pyrenees. The expiry of the company's currency swaps this October will require more hard cash than it has on hand, and its debts also need to be repaid or refinanced in under two years' time. Given Alpha Pyrenees' current loan-to-value ratio of 76 per cent - far higher than banks are comfortable with - a wind-up of the portfolio seems the only possible resolution. Judging by the recent experience of Rugby Estates [HOW THE 2012 BARGAIN SHARES PORTFOLIO FARED], this will release much less value for shareholders than an adjusted book value of 34p a share suggests. Steer clear.
Stephen Wilmot
Buys
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Total shares held | Value (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha Pyrenees Trust | Serena Tremlett | 20 Mar 13 | 97,986 | 5.09 | 4,987 | 121,472 | 0.103 |
| Amara Mining | John McGloin (ch) | 2 Apr 13 | 48,494 | 30.75 | 14,912 | 82,166 | 0.05 |
| Ariana Resources | Michael de Villiers | 28 Mar 13 | 500,000 | 1.34 | 6,700 | 3,099,142 | 0.74 |
| Artemis Alpha Trust | David Barron | 4 Apr 13 | 3,792 | 295.89 | 11,220 | 8,792 | 0.019 |
| AstraZeneca | Pascal Soriot | 28 Mar 13 | 42,500 | 3292 | 1,399,100 | 188,015 | - |
| Bango | Gerry Tucker (cfo) | 28 Mar 13 | 4,471 | 222.25 | 9,937 | - | - |
| Clarkson | Philip Green | 2 Apr 13 | 3,000 | 1549 | 46,470 | 3,000 | 0.016 |
| Ferrum Crescent | Edward Nealon (ch) | 27 Mar 13 | 1,000,000 | A$0.017 | A$17,000 | 6,434,532 | 1.96 |
| First Derivatives | Seamus Keating | 3 Apr 13 | 8,643 | 575 | 49,697 | 8,643 | 0.05 |
| Graphite Enterprise Trust | Sandra Pajarola | 4 Apr 13 | 6,000 | 502.5 | 30,150 | 6,000 | 0.008 |
| GVC | Lee Feldman (ch) | 3 Apr 13 | 15,000 | 289 | 43,350 | 88,700 | 0.15 |
| Henderson Smaller Cos Inv Trust | KE Percy | 3 Apr 13 | 280 | 446.00 | 1,249 | 5,980 | 0.008 |
| Hiscox | Ernst Jansen | 3 Apr 13 | 3,445 | 548.9559 | 18,912 | - | - |
| Hiscox | Andrea Rosen | 3 Apr 13 | 3,730 | 548.9559 | 20,476 | - | - |
| Hornby | Roger Canham (ch) | 28 Mar 13 | 40,000 | 78.5 | 31,400 | 40,000 | 78.5 |
| Immunodiagnostic Systems | Patrick Dahlen | 3 Apr 13 | 20,000 | 288 | 57,600 | 39,032 | 0.14 |
| Immunodiagnostic Systems | Chris Yates | 3 Apr 13 | 5,000 | 287 | 14,350 | 5,000 | 0.02 |
| ISG | David Lawther (ceo) | 3 Apr 13 | 5,000 | 128 | 6,400 | 176,356 | 0.527 |
| Ithaca Energy | Iain McKendrick (ceo) | 3 Apr 13 | 30,000 | 114 | 34,200 | 205,465 | 0.08 |
| Ithaca Energy | Graham Forbes (cfo) | 3 Apr 13 | 15,000 | 114 | 17,100 | 64,645 | 0.03 |
| Ithaca Energy | John Woods | 3 Apr 13 | 20,000 | 112 | 22,400 | 131,445 | 0.05 |
| Ithaca Energy | Jack Lee | 4 Apr 13 | 65,000 | CAD$1.72 | CAD$111,800 | 765,000 | 0.29 |
| Ithaca Energy | Jay Zammit | 4 Apr 13 | 50,000 | CAD$1.72 | CAD$86,000 | 498,332 | 0.19 |
| Ithaca Energy | Brad Hurtubise | 4 Apr 13 | 25,000 | CAD$1.73 | CAD$43,250 | 125,000 | 0.05 |
| Ithaca Energy | John Summers | 5 Apr 13 | 40,000 | 112 | 44,800 | 254,700 | 0.1 |
| Johnson Matthey | PC Framp | 22 Mar 13 | 1,000 | 2257.92 | 22,579 | - | - |
| JPMorgan American Inv Trust | Alan Collins | 2 Apr 13 | 522 | 1072.2 | 5,597 | 1,077 | - |
| Laird | Anthony Reading | 2 Apr 13 | 5,000 | 220.5 | 11,025 | 55,000 | 0.02 |
| Laird | David Lockwood | 5 Apr 13 | 5,213 | 214.7 | 11,192 | 15,513 | 0.0058 |
| Mission Marketing | Peter Fitzwilliam | 2 Apr 13 | 28,000 | 35 | 9,800 | 534,481 | 0.7 |
| New India Investment Trust | Hasan Askari | 28 Mar 13 | 2,000 | 237 | 4,740 | 2,000 | 0.0033 |
| Paragon Entertainment | Mark Pyrah | 4 Apr 13 | 181,814 | 5.5 | 10,000 | 18,956,889 | 11.7 |
| Petropavlovsk | Dr Graham Birch | 2 Apr 13 | 5,000 | 209.6 | 10,480 | 15,000 | 0.008 |
| Prudential | Paul Manduca | 2 Apr 13 | 20,000 | 1059.4768 | 211,895 | 22,500 | - |
| Prudential | Philip Remnant | 2 Apr 13 | 2,100 | 1058.8 | 22,235 | - | - |
| Resource Holding Management | Cheong Chia Chieh (md) | 4 Apr 13 | 51,000 | 8 | 4,080 | 9,196,804 | 22.42 |
| RusPetro | Alexander Chistyakov | 2 Apr 13 | 774,130 | 23-29.83p | 222,585 | 44,639,044 | 13.39 |
| RusPetro | Donald Wolcott (ceo) | 25/27 Mar 13 | 53,194 | 17.75-32p | 12,954 | 23,713,341 | 7.11 |
| Skyepharma | Jean-Charles Tschudin | 3 Apr 13 | 25,000 | 48 | 12,000 | 137,578 | 0.2983 |
| Soco | Antony Maris | 4 Apr 13 | 2,920 | 383.86 | 11,209 | 2,920 | 0.001 |
| Soco | Antony Maris | 4 Apr 13 | 2,624 | 380.992 | 9,997 | 5,544 | 0.002 |
| Telecity | Michael Tobin (ceo) | 5 Apr 13 | 1,500 | 891.96 | 13,379 | 664,081 | 0.33 |
Sells
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Total shares held | Value (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afren | Iain Wright | 28 Mar 13 | 150,000 | 143 | 215,100 | 671,153 | 0.06 |
| Albernarle & Bond | Greville Nicholls (ch) | 2 Apr 13 | 13,000 | 213.00 | 27,690 | 538,360 | 0.97 |
| Animalcare | Stephen Wildridge | 4 Apr 13 | 11,500 | 130.00 | 14,950 | 177,068 | 0.85 |
| Ashtead | Ian Sutcliffe | 2 Apr 13 | 2,200 | 610.00 | 13,420 | 11,822 | - |
| Belvoir | Mike Goddard (ch) | 5 Apr 13 | 250,000 | 136.00 | 340,000 | 8,953,922 | 43.36 |
| British Polythene | John Langlands | 3 Apr 13 | 12,000 | 517.75 | 62,130 | 212,282 | - |
| British Polythene | Michael Huyghe | 5 Apr 13 | 10,000 | 520.00 | 52,000 | 35,970 | 0.135 |
| CML Microsystems | CA Gurry (md) | 3 Apr 13 | 5,307 | 408 | 21,653 | 917,567 | 5.78 |
| Experian | Sir John Peace (ch) | 28 Mar 13 | 200,000 | 1,145.89 | 2,291,780 | - | - |
| Hornby | Frank Martin (d ch) | 3 Apr 13 | 400,000 | 82 | 328,000 | 1,602 | 0.004 |
| Interserve | Ian Renhard | 28 Mar 13 | 2,500 | 499.10 | 12,478 | 30,132 | 0.024 |
| Interserve | David Patterson | 2 Apr 13 | 1,000 | 509.74 | 5,097 | 41,473 | 0.03 |
| Interserve | David Patterson | 3 Apr 13 | 4,000 | 495.00 | 19,800 | 37,473 | 0.03 |
| Paddy Power | Patrick Kennedy | 4 Apr 13 | 71,567 | €68.2 | €4,880,869 | - | - |
| Personal | John Barber (fd) | 3 Apr 13 | 4,000 | 345.00 | 13,800 | 354,479 | 1.18 |
| Share | Gavin Oldham (ceo) | 4 Apr 13 | 45,530 | 23.50 | 10,700 | 17,564,422 | 12.23 |
| TEG | Douglas Benjafield | 5 Apr 13 | 53,483 | 5.85 | 3,129 | 77,000 | 0.04 |
| Winkworth, M | Simon Agace (ch) | 2 Apr 13 | 23,082 | 88.00 | 20,312 | 5,834,024 | 46 |
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
