Sir sells shares in Brunner

Sir Marcus Worsley, (6 April 1925 - 18 December 2012) was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as a Member of Parliament in four parliaments between 1959 and 1974, and served as High Sheriff and Lord Lieutenant for North Yorkshire.

His son, Sir William Worsley, remains a non-executive director of Brunner Investment Trust. He joined the board in January 2000.

Brunner Investment Trust’s objective is to increase its total return above the benchmark index of 50 per cent FTSE All-Share and 50 per cent FTSE All-World Index (ex UK sterling adjusted) over the long term, by investing in UK and international securities. It has a 17 per cent holding in financials, plus 12 per cent in cash and 12 per cent in industrials.

Moira O'Neill

No alarm bells ringing at N Brown

N Brown’s (BWNG) long-standing chief executive Alan White is due to step down this summer after 11 successful years at the helm of a company whose sales have risen from £42m in 1985 to £785m today. On July 1, new chief executive Angela Spindler will take over. That’s why investors shouldn’t be alarmed that Mr White cashed in 65 per cent of his shares on the 15 and 16 of May. The first tranche totalled 284,285 shares, which he sold at 449p apiece, giving him a windfall of £1.23m. The second batch of 215,715 shares was sold at the slightly higher price of 450p, worth £970,070. That leaves Mr White with 270,474 shares in the retailer. We believe N Brown is a core holding in the retail sector. It’s a well-run, cash-rich company, with a good growth profile and a decent dividend yield. It’s also expanding in the US and experimenting with high street stores in the UK, to complement the online and catalogue business. The shares were a long-standing buy tip until we moved them to a hold on 24 April. Those investors who heeded our advice to buy on 12 March 2010 at 216p will have seen their shares more than double. Mr White will remain at N Brown for “as long as the transition requires”, in other words, for the time it takes to show Ms Spindler the ropes. After that, he’ll retire but hopes to land a few non-executive directorships and chairman roles. Mr White is already a non-executive director at Topps Tiles.

Julia Bradshaw

Be wary of buys at Quindell

Rob Terry, chairman and chief executive of insurance claim outsourcer Quindell Portfolio (QPP), bought 1,000,000 shares, along with finance director Laurence Moorse, who purchased 250,000 shares, both at a price of 8p. The purchase on 14 May came a week before the announcement of a contract win on 22 May, which lifted the shares to 9p. But the shares are now a long way from the highs of around 17p in January of this year. The outsourcing group has grown rapidly through acquisitions over an 18-month period, funded by some £90.9m raised from investors. However, doubts persist in the market over the integration of motor insurance claim handling and car hire group Ai claims, solicitors Pinto Potts and Silverbeck Rymer, medical reporting group Mobile Doctors, and a number of smaller technology deals. We advised taking profits at 13.25p on 2 November 2012 after our original share tip (Buy, 7p, 17 July 2012). Following the release of the full-year results, we revised Quindell's shares to an outright sell at 12.5p as we thought there was too much risk from rapid expansion. That proved timely as the shares subsequently slumped due to investor uncertainty around cash collection and funding arrangements, combined with short sellers targeting the company. We retain our recommendation. Sell.

John Ficenec

Buys

Sells

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