Morgan Sindall (MGNS) experienced difficult conditions across all its markets in the first half, and margins and profits inevitably took a knock. Crucially, however, the construction group has focused on cash management and was sitting on a useful net cash pile of £39.7m at the end of June. That's just as well because trading conditions in the second half are unlikely to show any significant improvement and margins are likely to have come under pressure. However, the order book is holding up well, and at the end of June even showed a marginal improvement at £3.1bn.
Despite the tough environment, the shares have moved up almost a third since late last year. Chief executive and founder John Morgan sold 500,000 shares in the company at 665p on 9 August, raising a cool £3.32m. But he still holds nearly 4m shares in the company. There was no reason given for the sale, although on the same day JO Hambro Capital Management bought 242,500 shares, taking its total holding to 2.239m or 5.18 per cent of the issued share capital. Priced on a forward PE ratio of 11 and supported by a dividend yield of 4.2 per cent, the shares rate a hold.
IG Group (IGG) may have been affected by a lack of market volatility - profits in the year to the end of May were up just 3 per cent at £192m - but the online spread-betting specialist has done pretty well over the years and pre-tax profits have risen 90 per cent since 2010. Admittedly, the company's profitability is tied to the level of market activity, as prices that move quickly encourage spread betters to open new positions. And while things may be a little quiet at the moment, there are enough potential triggers that could spark a revival in volatility, especially after the major players come back from off the beach.
The shares have done pretty well, too, rising fourfold since the start of 2009. And with greater profits come greater rewards, which in the case of finance director Chris Hill came in the guise of deferred options as part of the company's long-term bonus plan. Mr Hill has just exercised nil-cost options on 98,589 shares, which he then sold at 584p, thus raising just over £576,000. However, it's worth noting that on the same day he bought 34,500 shares at 572.25p, taking his stake to 35,087 shares. So, although IG's shares are only modestly up since our buy tip (531p, 25 Apr 2013), priced on a forward PE ratio of 14.5, we remain buyers.
BUYS
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alliance Trust* | Katherine L Garrett-Cox (ce) | 12 Aug 13 | 941 | 440.9 | 4,149 | 459,510 | 0.08 |
| AVEVA | Jennifer Allerton | 8 Aug 13 | 1,000 | 2,457 | 24,570 | 1,000 | 0.00 |
| Caffyns | Richard Wright (ch) | 8 Aug 13 | 5,312 | 400 | 21,248 | 5,312 | 0.19 |
| Capital & Regional | Tony Hales | 14 Aug 13 | 100,000 | 38.25 | 38,250 | 150,000 | 0.04 |
| Catlin | Robert Gowdy | 13 Aug 13 | 10,000 | 495.8 | 49,580 | 29,350 | 0.01 |
| Chamberlin | Keith Butler-Wheelhouse (ch) | 9 Aug 13 | 25,000 | 80 | 20,000 | 83,500 | 1.05 |
| Chamberlin | Keith Butler-Wheelhouse (ch) | 13 Aug 13 | 1,784 | 80 | 1,427 | 86,152 | 1.08 |
| DCC | Jane Lodge | 8 Aug 13 | 3,000 | 2,680 | 80,400 | 3,000 | 0.00 |
| Diageo | Dr F B Humer (ch) | 12 Aug 13 | 398 | 2,080 | 8,278 | 47,693 | 0.00 |
| European Investment Trust* | Dr. M Woodward | 13 Aug 13 | 1,723 | 661.24 | 11,393 | 1,723 | 0.00 |
| Fox Marble Holdings | AJ Allner (ch) | 13 Aug 13 | 181,818 | 16.5 | 30,000 | 272,190 | 0.23 |
| Fox Marble Holdings | RJ Harrison | 13 Aug 13 | 121,212 | 16.5 | 20,000 | 167,656 | 0.14 |
| Frenkel Topping* | Richard Fraser (md) | 12 Aug 13 | 48,327 | 26.9 | 13,000 | 4,406,880 | 6.97 |
| Frontier IP | Andrew Richmond (ch) | 14 Aug 13 | 250,000 | 9.95 | 24,875 | 750,000 | 3.99 |
| Frontier IP | David Cairns | 14 Aug 13 | 250,000 | 9.95 | 24,875 | 620,000 | 3.30 |
| IG Group Holdings | C Hill (cfo) | 13 Aug 13 | 34,500 | 572.25 | 197,426 | 35,087 | 0.01 |
| Lancashire Holdings | Samantha Hoe-Richardson | 9 Aug 13 | 1,307 | 765 | 9,999 | 1,307 | 0.00 |
| Mecom | Peter Allen | 12 Aug 13 | 50,000 | 38 | 19,000 | 50,000 | 0.04 |
| Pressure Technologies* | James Lister (fd & cs) | 9 Aug 13 | 20,200 | 242.5 | 48,985 | 30,000 | 0.26 |
| ReNeuron† | BG Morton (ch) | 9 Aug 13 | 800,000 | 2.5 | 20,000 | 1,015,909 | 0.06 |
| ReNeuron† | ME Hunt (ce) | 9 Aug 13 | 800,000 | 2.5 | 20,000 | 1,253,023 | 0.07 |
| ReNeuron† | Dr JD Sinden | 9 Aug 13 | 600,000 | 2.5 | 15,000 | 2,211,902 | 0.12 |
| ReNeuron† | JE Berriman | 9 Aug 13 | 600,000 | 2.5 | 15,000 | 725,000 | 0.04 |
| ReNeuron† | MJ Docherty | 9 Aug 13 | 600,000 | 2.5 | 15,000 | 944,859 | 0.05 |
| ReNeuron† | SC Cartmell | 9 Aug 13 | 600,000 | 2.5 | 15,000 | 787,000 | 0.04 |
| ReNeuron † | Dr PB Harper | 09 Aug 13 | 200,000 | 2.5 | 5,000 | 451,709 | 0.03 |
| ReNeuron† | Dr T Corn | 9 Aug 13 | 200,000 | 2.5 | 5,000 | 200,000 | 0.01 |
| Standard Life | John Paynter | 13 Aug 13 | 5,000 | 367.4 | 18,370 | 45,000 | 0.00 |
| SThree | Gary Elden (ce) | 8 Aug 13 | 15,149 | 345 | 52,264 | 3,640,670 | 2.97 |
| SVG Capital | Lynn Fordham (ce) | 14 Aug 13 | 20,726 | 409.2 | 84,811 | 194,468 | 0.08 |
| Symphony International Holdings | A Thadani | 12 Aug 13 | 300,000 | 74.38 | 223,150 | 50,615,618 | 9.78 |
| Unilever | PS Walsh | 9 Aug 13 | 1,000 | 2585 | 25,850 | 2,000 | 0.00 |
| Wolfson Microelectronics | Charlotta Ginman | 13 Aug 13 | 7,024 | 163 | 11,449 | 7,024 | 0.01 |
SELLS:
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Experian | Don Robert (ce) | 9 Aug 13 | 100,000 | 1,218.28 | 1,218,284 | 1,389,942 | 0.14 |
| Fidelity Japanese Values | S Fraser | 13 Aug 13 | 24,000 | 73.5 | 17,640 | 18,000 | 0.02 |
| FirstGroup | Martin Gilbert (ch) | 8 Aug 13 | 223,972 | 108.31 | 242,587 | 476,036 | 0.04 |
| GETECH | Peter Stephens | 13 Aug 13 | 30,000 | 82 | 24,600 | 898,000 | 2.98 |
| IG Group Holdings | C Hill (cfo) | 13 Aug 13 | 98,589 | 584.33 | 576,085 | 587 | 0.00 |
| Legal & General | M Zinkula | 11 Aug 13 | 81,946 | 196.05 | 160,655 | 100,155 | 0.00 |
| Lombard Risk Management | Paul Tuson (cfo &cs) | 13 Aug 13 | 1,200,000 | 11.75 | 141,000 | 560,000 | 0.22 |
| Morgan Sindall | John Morgan (ce) | 9 Aug 13 | 500,000 | 665 | 3,325,000 | 3,997,508 | 9.24 |
| PayPoint | Tim Watkin-Rees | 9 Aug 13 | 300,000 | 1,110 | 3,330,000 | 451,966 | 0.67 |
| Sports Direct International | Simon Bentley | 13 Aug 13 | 25,000 | 653 | 163,250 | 25,000 | 0.00 |
| Standard Chartered | PA Sands (ce) | 9 Aug 13 | 24,661 | 1,577.50 | 389,027 | 200,000 | 0.01 |
| Standard Chartered | J Bindra | 9 Aug 13 | 25,398 | 1,586.88 | 403,036 | 153,378 | 0.01 |
| TVC Holdings | John Tracey (ce) | 8 Aug 13 | 862,424 | 80.926 | 697,922 | 252,832 | 0.28 |
| TVC Holdings | David Doyle | 8 Aug 13 | 1,198,311 | 80.93 | 969,741 | 1,101,000 | 1.20 |
| TVC Holdings | Pádraig O'Riordain | 8 Aug 13 | 833,333 | 80.926 | 674,380 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Volex | Mike McTighe | 13 Aug 13 | 5,000 | 115 | 5,750 | 538,667 | 0.86 |
| Volex | Mike McTighe | 14 Aug 13 | 5,000 | 115 | 5,750 | 533,667 | 0.85 |
*Isa/Sipp †Placing
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
