Peter Levine made serious money - both for himself and his investors - when he sold Imperial Energy, a Russian oil producer, to an Indian oil group for £1.4bn ($2.1bn). Imperial’s share price rose an astounding 4,700 per cent between listing in 2004 and being taken over in 2009 - soaring from 25p to roughly 1,200p. And investors in his new company, President Energy (PPC), are betting he can do it again.
We’re not so sure. President Energy is carrying out 3D seismic surveys ahead of drilling next year at some frontier oil prospects in Paraguay. Prospects like these often have less than a one-in-10 shot of success. Yet even though the odds are against him, Mr Levine is filled to the brim with confidence - not to mention risk capital. This month he spent £527,000 on 3.4m more President shares, bringing his total holding to 71.9m shares, or 26.8 per cent of the company. We currently rate the shares a hold.
Last IC view: Hold, 20p, 3 May 2013
Matthew Allan
Hoggarth brings home the bacon
Former Cranswick (CWK) chief executive Bernard Hoggarth has sold roughly 8 per cent of his holding in the pork producer. On 9 July, Mr Hoggarth, who has stepped back from the day-to-day running of the business and is now a part-time commercial director, sold 9,000 shares at 1,165p, totalling £104,874.
Cranswick’s share price had a steady run in recent years, with the price rising 36 per cent year-to-date alone, so it’s perhaps not surprising that Mr Hoggarth decided to cash in. A lot of this growth is down to the well-run nature of the business. Rising pig prices posed a challenge last year, but Cranswick offset much of this through pricing, operation efficiencies, increased capacity and driving new business. It recently re-entered the pig rearing sector, having acquired East Anglian Pigs, which gives it greater control of the supply chain. Approval to export to Australia and China offers huge growth potential. The share price may be at an all-time high, but we think the shares are still worth hanging on to. Hold.
Julia Bradshaw
Buys
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Total shares held | Value (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active Energy | Matteo Girlanda (coo) | 9 Jul 13 | 360,000 | 2.5 | 9,000 | 62,860,000 | 11.3 |
| Active Energy | Matteo Girlanda (coo) | 10 Jul 13 | 500,000 | 2.65 | 13,250 | 63,360,000 | 11.4 |
| Associated British Foods | Lord Jay of Ewelme | 12 Jul 13 | 500 | 1,892 | 9,460 | - | - |
| Avanti Communications | David Williams (ceo) | 10 Jul 13 | 14,200 | 176 | 24,992 | 1,666,101 | 1.49 |
| Avanti Communications | Paul Walsh | 10 Jul 13 | 10,000 | 161 | 16,100 | 140,000 | 0.1 |
| Avanti Communications | David Williams (ceo) | 11 Jul 13 | 15,000 | 166.25 | 24,938 | 1,686,101 | 1.5 |
| Avanti Communications | Matthew O'Connor | 12 Jul 13 | 5,000 | 167.75 | 8,388 | 202,091 | 0.18 |
| Booker | Helena Andreas | 10 Jul 13 | 10,000 | 127.657 | 12,766 | 10,000 | 0.0006 |
| C&C | Joris Brams | 12 Jul 13 | 8,000 | €4.149 | €33,192 | - | - |
| Castings | GB Wainwright | 9 Jul 13 | 25,000 | 392.5 | 98,125 | - | - |
| Frontier Mining | Yerloan Aliyev (ceo) | 10 Jul 13 | 860,000 | 1.45 | 12,470 | 860,000 | 0.04 |
| Hardide | Philip Kirkham (ceo) | 9 Jul 13 | 754,717 | 1.32 | 9,962 | 754,717 | 0.1 |
| Hardide | Robert Goddard (ch) | 9 Jul 13 | 754,717 | 1.32 | 9,962 | 4,223,050 | 0.4 |
| Mission Marketing | David Morgan (ch) | 11 Jul 13 | 120,000 | 24 | 28,800 | 6,059,875 | 7.9 |
| Mission Marketing | Chris Goodwin | 16 Jul 13 | 41,412 | 25.5 | 10,560 | 373,047 | 0.5 |
| Naibu Global | Huoyan Lin (ch) | 9 Jul 13 | 1,800,000 | 58 | 1,044,000 | 27,435,000 | 50.02 |
| Naibu Global | Giles Elliott (d ch) | 9 Jul 13 | 86,207 | 58 | 50,000 | 94,272 | 0.17 |
| Naibu Global | Stephen Cheung | 9 Jul 13 | 20,000 | 58 | 11,600 | 20,000 | 0.04 |
| NetDimensions | Matthew Chaloner (cfo) | 11 Jul 13 | 5,000 | $3.05 | $15,250 | 5,000 | 0.01 |
| Next Fifteen Communications | Richard Eyre (ch) | 12 Jul 13 | 45,629 | 87.66 | 39,998 | 75,129 | 0.13 |
| Omega Diagnostics | Jag Grewal | 11 Jul 13 | 19,501 | 15.2 | 2,964 | 48,913 | 0.04 |
| Pittards | Reg Hankey (ceo) | 9 Jul 13 | 200,000 | 2.35 | 4,700 | 7,936,719 | - |
| President Energy | Peter Levine (ch) | 11 Jul 13 | 3,400,000 | 15.5 | 527,000 | 71,973,525 | 26.79 |
| Private & Commercial Finance | David Anthony (ch) | 10 Jul 13 | 114,285 | 8.75 | 10,000 | 552,878 | 1 |
| Sainsbury, J | Mary Harris | 12 Jul 13 | 357 | 383.08 | 1,368 | 11,964 | - |
| Tate & Lyle | Matthew Wineinger | 9 Jul 13 | 131,933 | 880 | 1,161,010 | - | - |
| Terra Capital | Howard Golden | 19 Jun 13 | 100,000 | $0.7125 | $71,250 | 299,805 | 0.43 |
| Treatt | Richard Hope | 11 Jul 13 | 10,552 | 575 | 60,674 | 26,372 | 0.25 |
Sells
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Total shares held | Value (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Computer Software | Michael Jackson (ch) | 11 Jul 13 | 50,000 | 87.24 | 43,619 | 686,149 | 0.16 |
| Advanced Computer Software | Michael Jackson (ch) | 12 Jul 13 | 300,000 | 87.42 | 262,272 | 386,149 | 0.09 |
| CML Microsystems | Nigel Clark (fd) | 9 Jul 13 | 15,000 | 473 | 70,950 | 62,100 | 0.39 |
| Cranswick | Bernard Hoggarth | 9 Jul 13 | 9,000 | 1,165.27 | 104,874 | 105,413 | 0.2166 |
| Finsbury Food | Martin Lightbody (ch) | 16 Jul 13 | 6,500,000 | 54 | 3,503,500 | 7,200,000 | 11.2 |
| NetDimensions | Roger Durn (ch) | 11 Jul 13 | 60,000 | $3.05 | $183,000 | 110,000 | 0.29 |
| Stagecoach | Dale Moser | 8 Jul 13 | 23,651 | 332.10 | 78,545 | - | - |
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
