In the two months from the middle of May, the share price of Ashmore (ASHM) fell 25 per cent to 324p, after funds run by the emerging markets asset manager sustained significant withdrawals.
The catalyst for this was the prospect of the US Fed ending its accommodative monetary stance by starting to reduce its quantitative easing programme. Investors overreacted, and some, like non-executive director Charles Outhwaite, kept a cool head. In Mr Outhwaite’s case, he bought 40,000 shares at 325p on 3 July, and within a week the shares hit 354p. Investing in emerging markets may not attract the sort of returns that investors have been used to in the past, but over the long-term, this is where the bulk of global growth will come from. However, pressure on fees and eroding cash margins suggest that despite the recent recovery the shares, trading on 16 times forecast earnings, look up with events. Hold.
LXB sells sites as a director sells shares
LXB Retail Properties (LXB) has been busy selling supermarket sites, and there is likely to be a sizeable cash pile at the end of it. By the September year-end, the group may have realised as much as £103m. And some of this has already been put to good use through a series of share buy-backs, the latest in early July involving the purchase of 5.05m shares at 117p per share for cancellation, and in the wake of the purchase of 666,129 shares at 114.9p on 1 July. Directors in the company have also been busy, with director Alastair Irvine selling 468,750 shares at 115p on 1 July, although this still leaves him with an indirect interest in 2.5m shares. And Jo Duffield a member of LXB Partners, which includes the company’s investment adviser, bought 40,517 shares at 117p per share, taking her holding up to 245,588 shares. Given the group’s success at making money out of the tough retail development business, the shares continue to represent value, and we remain buyers.
Jonas Crosland
Buys
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Total shares held | Value (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative Networks | Bernard Clegg (d ch) | 04 Jul 13 | 35,000 | 298 | 104,300 | 35,000 | - |
| Amara Mining | Peter Hain | 03 Jul 13 | 53,362 | 11.09 | 5,918 | 53,362 | 0.03 |
| Amara Mining | John McGloin (ch) | 05 Jul 13 | 201,899 | 9.85 | 19,887 | 284,065 | 0.17 |
| Amara Mining | Pete Gardner (fdf) | 05 Jul 13 | 100,000 | 9.75 | 9,750 | 168,289 | 0.1 |
| Amphion Innovations | Richard Morgan (ceo) | 28 Jun 13 | 200,000 | 1.75 | 3,500 | 25,642,499 | 17.54 |
| Ashmore | Charles Outhwaite | 03 Jul 13 | 40,000 | 325.91 | 130,364 | 40,000 | 0.006 |
| Associated British Engineering | Colin Weinberg | 08 Jul 13 | 5,000 | 122 | 6,100 | 161,416 | 7.87 |
| British Assets Trust | Jim Grover | 26 Jun 13 | 20,000 | 126.437 | 25,287 | 20,000 | 0.069 |
| British Empire Securities & General | Susan Noble | 28 Jun 13 | 5,226 | 476.49 | 24,901 | 8,628 | 0.006 |
| Camco Clean Energy | Scott McGregor (ceo) | 01 Jul 13 | 2,500,000 | 1.6 | 40,000 | 4,087,746 | 1.96 |
| Cluff Natural Resources | Algy Cluff (ch, ceo) | 02 Jul 13 | 399,157 | 5.75 | 22,952 | 11,067,914 | 12.72 |
| Densitron | Grahame Falconer (ceo) | 01 Jul 13 | 77,612 | 5.75 | 4,463 | 442,612 | 0.64 |
| Falkland Islands | John Foster | 01 Jul 13 | 5,000 | 370 | 18,500 | 50,584 | 0.41 |
| Faroe Petroleum | John Bentley | 05 Jul 13 | 22,500 | 110.75 | 24,919 | 84,175 | - |
| Faroe Petroleum | Tim Read | 05 Jul 13 | 20,000 | 110.75 | 22,150 | 80,000 | - |
| Finsbury Growth & Income Trust | John Allard | 08 Jul 13 | 893 | 478.7 | 4,275 | 26,348 | 0.03 |
| Gable | William Dewsall (ceo) | 01 Jul 13 | 217,600 | 45.5 | 99,008 | 24,867,622 | 21.9 |
| Halma | Paul Walker (ch) | 04 Jul 13 | 30,000 | 519.7 | 155,910 | 30,000 | 0.008 |
| Hayward Tyler | Nicholas Flanagan | 08 Jul 13 | 36,000 | 27.75 | 9,990 | 384,333 | 0.84 |
| Hydrodec | Andrew Black | 28 Jun 13 | 750,000 | 10 | 75,000 | 85,167,021 | 20.2 |
| Immunodiagnostic Systems | Patrick Dahlen | 01 Jul 13 | 5,719 | 450 | 25,736 | 44,751 | 0.16 |
| Immunodiagnostic Systems | Chris Yates | 01 Jul 13 | 500 | 450 | 2,250 | 5,500 | 0.02 |
| International Greetings | John Charlton (ch) | 05 Jul 13 | 595,000 | 30 | 178,500 | 620,000 | 1.1 |
| InternetQ | Iain Johnston | 02 Jul 13 | 4,000 | 306.22 | 12,249 | 49,027 | 0.13 |
| Intu-Properties | John Whittaker | 08 Jul 13 | 5,000 | 1565.6 | 78,280 | 191,902,358 | 19.85 |
| Johnston Press | ISM Russell | 28 Jun 13 | 54,919 | 16.75 | 9,199 | 4,035,232 | - |
| Johnston Press | GM Iddison | 28 Jun 13 | 26,886 | 16.75 | 4,503 | 661,842 | - |
| Johnston Press | AR Marshall | 28 Jun 13 | 24,957 | 16.75 | 4,180 | 683,040 | - |
| Johnston Press | MA Pain | 28 Jun 13 | 18,950 | 16.75 | 3,174 | 646,029 | - |
| Johnston Press | CA Rhodes | 28 Jun 13 | 18,717 | 16.75 | 3,135 | 432,104 | - |
| Johnston Press | K Aamot | 28 Jun 13 | 24,957 | 16.75 | 4,180 | 610,657 | - |
| Johnston Press | S van Rooyen | 28 Jun 13 | 6,359 | 16.75 | 1,065 | 6,359 | - |
| LXB Retail Properties | Jo Duffield | 05 Jul 13 | 40,517 | 117 | 47,405 | 245,588 | 0.11 |
| Mitie | Jack Boyer | 27 Jun 13 | 2,000 | 247.292 | 4,946 | 2,000 | 0.001 |
| N Brown | Andrew Higginson | 02 Jul 13 | 827 | 477.7 | 3,951 | 83,334 | 0.029 |
| National Grid | Sir Peter Gershon (ch) | 01 Jul 13 | 12,000 | 750.54 | 90,065 | 72,286 | - |
| Oxus Gold | Richard Shead (ch) | 03 Jul 13 | 750,000 | 1.65 | 12,375 | 10,944,519 | 2.42 |
| Pan European Terminals | Simon Escott (ceo) | 03 Jul 13 | 20,000 | 20 | 4,000 | 4,926,500 | 4.63 |
| Pan European Terminals | Adrian Simpson (fd) | 03 Jul 13 | 20,000 | 20 | 4,000 | 20,000 | 0.02 |
| Quintain Estates and Devpt | William Rucker | 01 Jul 13 | 3,887 | 77.17 | 3,000 | - | - |
| Rolls-Royce | Iain Conn | 08 Jul 13 | 206 | 1206 | 2,484 | 26,034 | - |
| RWS | Richard Thompson | 01 Jul 13 | 1,380 | 720 | 9,936 | 1,380 | 0.003 |
| SABMiller | GC Bible | 05 Jul 13 | 2,600 | 3198.1 | 83,151 | - | - |
| Sinclair, William | Hugh Etheridge | 05 Jul 13 | 9,750 | 130 | 12,675 | 9,750 | 0.06 |
| Somero Enterprises | Lawrence Horsch (ch) | 26 Jun 13 | 9,100 | 65.3 | 5,942 | 152,000 | 0.27 |
| Terra Capital | Yarden Mariuma | 27 Jun 13 | 131,500 | US$0.7425 | US$97,639 | 685,970 | 0.98 |
| TR European Growth Trust | Jane Tufnell | 03 Jul 13 | 1,215 | 410 | 4,982 | 1,215 | 0.002 |
| Vianet | Christopher Williams | 01 Jul 13 | 3,000 | 74.35 | 2,231 | 4,250 | 0.015 |
| Vianet | James Dickson (ch) | 04 Jul 13 | 28,000 | 70.9 | 19,852 | 4,315,219 | 15.52 |
| Wasabi Energy | John Byrne | 28 Jun 13 | 329,142 | 0.6₵ | US$1,975 | 351,731,620 | 11.1 |
| WYG | Paul Hamer (ceo) | 04 Jul 13 | 11,968 | 89.5 | 10,711 | 117,054 | 0.18 |
| WYG | Graham Oliver (coo) | 04 Jul 13 | 8,286 | 89.5 | 7,416 | 80,950 | 0.13 |
| WYG | Sean Cummins (fd) | 04 Jul 13 | 8,286 | 89.5 | 7,416 | 8,286 | 0.01 |
Sells
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Total shares held | Value (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of Georgia | Avto Namicheishvili | 26 Jun 13 | 1,846 | 1,657 | 30,588 | 196,608 | 0.55 |
| Bank of Georgia | Avto Namicheishvili | 27 Jun 13 | 7,696 | 1,626 | 125,137 | 188,912 | 0.53 |
| Bank of Georgia | Avto Namicheishvili | 28 Jun 13 | 7,458 | 1,637 | 122,087 | 181,454 | 0.51 |
| e-Therapeutics | Brad Hoy | 03 Jul 13 | 17,857 | 34 | 6,071 | nil | na |
| Euromoney Institutional Investor | DC Cohen | 02 Jul 13 | 25,000 | 1,002 | 250,500 | 39,490 | 0.03 |
| LXB Retail Properties | Alastair Irvine | 01 Jul 13 | 468,750 | 115 | 539,063 | 2,500,000 | - |
| M P Evans | JD Shaw | 28 Jun 13 | 5,000 | 530.00 | 26,500 | 455,747 | 0.829 |
| PayPoint | Andrew Robb | 08 Jul 13 | 12,000 | 1,064.50 | 127,740 | 4,000 | 0.006 |
| Pennon | Monica Read | 05 Jul 13 | 6,100 | 678.54 | 41,391 | - | - |
| SpaceandPeople | Nancy Cullen | 08 Jul 13 | 100,000 | 95 | 95,000 | 1,433,000 | 7.4 |
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
