For Justin Apthorp, Majestic Wine's (MJW) buying director, the company is more than just a wine merchant, but a family business, given that is was founded by his father in 1980. The Apthorps have historically been major shareholders, which is why investors shouldn't be too spooked that Mr Apthorp recently offloaded 35 per cent of is stake in the company on 30 August. He sold 267,200 shares at 510p each, giving him a windfall of more than £1.3m to fund the purchase of a flat. Given that the shares have risen 27 per cent since mid-May, and hit an all-time high last month, it's perhaps no wonder that Mr Apthorp decided to cash in.
The recent share price rally reflects good trading at Majestic. In the last financial year to 1 April, underlying sales rose 2.6 per cent while UK same store retail sales were up 1 per cent - not bad for a small company whose main competitors are the supermarket giants.
Customer numbers are increasing too and that's largely thanks to quality service, product selection and events like wine tastings. Internet sales are growing fast, while a store-rollout is helping to boost brand awareness. The rating, though, factors all of this in, with shares now trading on 17 times forecast earnings. We maintain our hold recommendation.
Julia Bradshaw
Renold chief keeps buying
New boss Robert Purcell's shake-up at industrial chains and gearbox maker Renold (RNO) continues apace. After setting out a strategy to lower the company's break-even point in the spring, a loss-making factory in Bredbury in Manchester has been earmarked for closure. Mr Purcell's passion for stripping out excess capacity is matched only by his enthusiasm for company shares. He bought another 500,000 at 28p just days after the news, lifting the stake amassed since taking over in January to 3.75m. Mandy Harper, related to chairman Mark, spent £25,000, too.
Renold said in June it had already taken £1m of overheads out of the business in the first quarter, which should improve operating margins. A 3.5 per cent dip in revenue, meanwhile, confirms the trend for a more moderate slowdown at the top line. In fact, analysts at N+1 Singer reckon full-year sales will be unchanged, but that adjusted pre-tax profit will jump over a third to £6m, giving adjusted EPS of 2.1p. Renold's share price has rallied more than a fifth since we said buy (27p, 20 June 2013), but with earnings tipped to grow at least as fast over the next few years, they remain a speculative buy.
Lee Wild
BUYS
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AGA Rangemaster | Paul Jackson | 02 Sep 13 | 4,968 | 114.5 | 5,688 | 7,000 | 0.01 |
| Amlin | Julie Chakraverty | 28 Aug 13 | 8,000 | 394.56 | 31,565 | 8,000 | 0.00 |
| Athelney Trust | RG Boyle (md) | 22 Aug 13 | 6,500 | 136 | 8,840 | 468,575 | 23.63 |
| Avation | Rod Mahoney | 27 Aug 13 | 41,862 | 70 | 29,303 | 200,000 | 0.41 |
| Avation | Jeff Chatfield (ch) | 27 Aug 13 | 1,000,000 | 70 | 700,000 | 9,855,366 | 20.19 |
| Bank of Georgia Holdings | A Breach | 28 Aug 13 | 2,000 | 1,711 | 34,220 | 12,279 | 0.03 |
| Baobab Resources | Jeremy Dowler (ch) | 30 Aug 13 | 75,000 | 13.375 | 10,031 | 8,740,169 | 2.90 |
| Berkeley Group Holdings | S Ellis | 23 Aug 13 | 2,212 | 2,241 | 49,571 | 12,212 | 0.01 |
| BHP Billiton | Carolyn Hewson | 22 Aug 13 | 7,000 | 2,003.62 | 140,253 | 10,500 | 0.00 |
| British Sky Broadcasting | Daniel Rimer | 27 Aug 13 | 392 | 842.5 | 3,303 | 21,892 | 0.00 |
| British Sky Broadcasting | Nicholas Ferguson (ch) | 27 Aug 13 | 618 | 842.5 | 5,207 | 23,340 | 0.00 |
| British Sky Broadcasting † | Jeremy Darroch (ce) | 28 Aug 13 | 57,120 | 839.98 | 479,797 | 411,695 | 0.03 |
| British Sky Broadcasting † | Andrew Griffith (cfo) | 28 Aug 13 | 26,052 | 839.98 | 218,832 | 140,504 | 0.01 |
| CLS Holdings | Sten Mortstedt (ch) | 22 Aug 13 | 259 | 1,169 | 3,028 | 22,664,286 | 59.30 |
| Coal of Africa | David Brown (ch) | 30 Aug 13 | 120,000 | 7.86 | 9,432 | 150,000 | 0.01 |
| Coal of Africa | Michael Meeser (cfo) | 30 Aug 13 | 200,000 | 7.8 | 15,600 | 200,000 | 0.02 |
| Coastal Energy Company | Olivier de Montal | 22 Aug 13 | 27,616 | 952.607 | 263,072 | 400,000 | 0.35 |
| Dignity | James Ashcroft | 30 Aug 13 | 1,000 | 1,475 | 14,750 | 1,000 | 0.01 |
| Enables IT | Marcus Yeoman | 23 Aug 13 | 37,500 | 41.5 | 15,563 | 206,978 | 1.12 |
| G4S | Ashley Almanza (ce) | 28 Aug 13 | 100,000 | 251 | 251,000 | 100,000 | 0.01 |
| Gaming Realms | Michael Buckley (ch) | 29 Aug 13 | 18,651 | 21.87 | 4,079 | 16,300,000 | 11.10 |
| GlaxoSmithKline * | Dr M Slaoui | 27 Aug 13 | 5,980 | 1,660.89 | 99,321 | 1,775,924 | 0.04 |
| Intu Properties | John Whittacker | 29 Aug 13 | 50,000 | 307.8 | 153,900 | 192,102,358 | 19.87 |
| Marks & Spencer | Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne | 27 Aug 13 | 2,000 | 483.68 | 9,674 | 2,000 | 0.00 |
| Office2office | David Callear (ch) | 30 Aug 13 | 200,000 | 34 | 68,000 | 650,991 | 1.79 |
| Office2office | Simon Moate (ce) | 30 Aug 13 | 30,000 | 34 | 10,200 | 236,832 | 0.65 |
| Office2office | Hugh Hawley (fd) | 30 Aug 13 | 30,000 | 34 | 10,200 | 50,000 | 0.14 |
| Pearson - ADRs | Will Etheridge | 30 Aug 13 | 50,000 | 1,269 | 634,500 | 435,768 | 0.05 |
| Premier Oil | M Romieu | 26 Aug 13 | 20,000 | 340 | 68,000 | 20,000 | 0.00 |
| Raven Russia | Stephen Coe | 27 Aug 13 | 12,000 | 69.7 | 8,364 | 118,107 | 0.02 |
| Renold | Robert Purcell (ce) | 29 Aug 13 | 500,000 | 28 | 140,000 | 3,748,526 | 1.68 |
| Renold * | Mandy Harper (ch) | 28 Aug 13 | 87,719 | 28.5 | 25,000 | 469,189 | 0.21 |
| Rio Tinto | Richard Goodmanson | 28 Aug 13 | 501 | 2,948.88 | 14,774 | 14,971 | 0.00 |
| Rio Tinto | Paul Tellier | 28 Aug 13 | 428 | 2,948.88 | 12,621 | 19,039 | 0.00 |
| Scottish Oriental Smaller Co's | Anne West | 28 Aug 13 | 2,000 | 737 | 14,740 | 2,000 | 0.01 |
| Serco | Alastair Lyons (ch) | 30 Aug 13 | 18,600 | 534.8 | 99,473 | na | na |
| Serco | Christopher Hyman (ce) | 30 Aug 13 | 18,400 | 539.5 | 99,268 | na | na |
| Serco | Andrew Jenner (cfo) | 30 Aug 13 | 9,030 | 549.4943 | 49,619 | na | na |
| Sierra Rutile | Jan Castro (ch) | 29 Aug 13 | 125,000 | 54 | 67,500 | 1,654,750 | 0.32 |
| Wynnstay Properties | Toby Parker (fd & cs) | 27 Aug 13 | 5,000 | 275 | 13,750 | 6,750 | 0.25 |
| Xchanging | David Bauernfeind (cfo) | 28 Aug 13 | 17,080 | 124 | 21,179 | 301,210 | 0.12 |
| Xchanging * | David Bauernfeind (cfo) | 28 Aug 13 | 10,500 | 124 | 13,020 | 311,710 | 0.13 |
SELLS
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Yellow | John Trotman (cfo) | 22 Aug 13 | 3,000 | 407.8 | 12,234 | 76,489 | 0.05 |
| Brammer * | Ian Fraser (ce) | 23 Aug 13 | 30,000 | 450 | 135,000 | 1,315,151 | 1.12 |
| FBD Holdings | A Langford (ce) | 27 Aug 13 | 18,000 | 1,570 | 282,600 | 52,000 | 0.16 |
| Fisher (James) & Sons | NP Henry (ce) | 28 Aug 13 | 10,500 | 1,101.24 | 115,630 | 126,013 | 0.25 |
| Fisher (James) & Sons | NP Henry (ce) | 27 Aug 13 | 5,500 | 1,100.61 | 60,534 | 136,513 | 0.27 |
| GETECH | Peter Stephens | 23 Aug 13 | 35,000 | 82 | 28,700 | 863,000 | 2.86 |
| LMS Capital | Barnard Duroc-Danner | 28 Aug 13 | 93,333 | 77.4 | 72,240 | 252,177 | 0.13 |
| LMS Capital | Barnard Duroc-Danner | 30 Aug 13 | 15,628 | 76.9 | 12,018 | 222,398 | 0.12 |
| LMS Capital | Barnard Duroc-Danner | 29 Aug 13 | 14,151 | 76.8 | 10,868 | 238,026 | 0.13 |
| Majestic Wine | Justin Apthorp | 30 Aug 13 | 267,200 | 510.01 | 1,362,747 | 485,673 | 0.80 |
| Mattioli Woods | Bob Wood (ch) | 30 Aug 13 | 30,000 | 315 | 94,500 | 3,393,703 | 17.13 |
| Mattioli Woods | Ian Mattioli (ce) | 30 Aug 13 | 30,000 | 315 | 94,500 | 3,393,703 | 17.13 |
| Mattioli Woods | Nathan Imlach (fd) | 30 Aug 13 | 10,000 | 315 | 31,500 | 180,884 | 0.91 |
| Mattioli Woods | Murray Smith | 31 Aug 13 | 20,000 | 315 | 63,000 | 238,526 | 1.2 |
| Publishing Technology | Alan Moug (cfo & cs) | 23 Aug 13 | 20,000 | 328 | 65,600 | 476,795 | 5.67 |
| Sepura | Sian Kearsey | 28 Aug 13 | 1,000,000 | 147 | 1,470,000 | 8,000,000 | 5.78 |
| Share | Iain Wallace | 22 Aug 13 | 36,000 | 21 | 7,560 | 0 | 0.00 |
| SThree | Justin Hughes | 30 Aug 13 | 22,500 | 345 | 77,625 | 635,792 | 0.52 |
| SThree | Justin Hughes | 22 Aug 13 | 74,177 | 345 | 255,911 | 658,292 | 0.54 |
| Xaar | Ian Dinwoodie (ce) | 29 Aug 13 | 150,000 | 835 | 1,251,750 | 57,449 | 0.08 |
* Connected person † Co-investment plan
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
