Despite tough consumer conditions, Restaurant Group (RTN) has been a rare success story in the leisure sector over the past few years. Its range of branded restaurants - including Garfunkel's and Chiquito - located in retail parks and transport hubs have bucked the recessionary trends seen elsewhere in the sector. Indeed, the group reported that like-for-like sales had jumped 5 per cent at the half-year stage. That has helped drive the shares to 543p - a 10-year high - and some directors have benefited from that strength after offloading shares at the end of last month through a series of spousal holdings. Specifically, chairman Alan Jackson, finance director Stephen Critoph and chief executive Andrew Page have together sold 500,000 shares at 536p - for a total of £2.68m. Mr Page netted £1.23m of this by selling 230,000 shares. The disposals have been made ahead of next month's autumn trading update and, while there's no reason to suspect that trading will be weaker, the shares do now trade on 20 times forecast earnings - expensive for the sector - and offer a fairly modest yield. Despite the group's trading strengths, that share price premium could prove hard to sustain and we reiterate our sell tip (513p, 6 June 2013). Sell.
Julian Hofmann
Shares in fund manager Schroders (SDR) have risen nearly 10 per cent to 2,595p since the company released half-year figures in early August - despite having suffered a second-quarter net fund outflow. That outflow was driven by fears that the US Federal Reserve Bank might withdraw its stimulus measures. But those fears have diminished significantly of late and management reckons that the funds have since returned. With that background, chief executive Michael Dobson took advantage of Schroders' share price strength last month by selling 67,250 shares at 2,526p and a further 32,750 at 2,550p. Taking profits at these levels is understandable. After all, the current impasse over the US budget could yet hit the economic recovery there - and that could make for volatile equity conditions which, in turn, may hit Schroders' investment performance. While the Fed's timetable for withdrawing its stimulus efforts remains uncertain and could yet drive more fund outflows. What's more, the shares trade on around 21 times forecast earnings - leaving little scope for upside. The shares rate no better than a hold.
Jonas Crosland
BUYS:
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anpario | Karen L Prior (fd & cs) | 25 Sep 13 | 12,750 | 202.5 | 25,819 | 52,571 | 0.27 |
| Avanti Communications | John Brackenbury (ch) | 19 Sep 13 | 35,000 | 242.8 | 84,980 | 485,630 | 0.43 |
| Bahamas Petroleum Company | Edward Shallcross | 20 Sep 13 | 200,000 | 4.58 | 9,160 | 320,000 | 0.03 |
| Berkeley Group Holdings (The) | RC Perrins | 27 Sep 13 | 4,000 | 2,052 | 82,080 | 1,060,215 | 0.81 |
| Berkeley Group Holdings (The) † | Veronica Wadley | 20 Sep 13 | 1,500 | 2,045 | 30,675 | 6,500 | 0.00 |
| Berkeley Group Holdings (The) † | VW Perrins | 27 Sep 13 | 3,000 | 2,051 | 61,530 | 154,849 | 0.12 |
| Chariot Oil & Gas | Matthew Taylor | 24 Sep 13 | 212,000 | 18.8 | 39,856 | 328,741 | 0.16 |
| Chariot Oil & Gas | Mark Reid (cfo) | 24 Sep 13 | 159,000 | 18.8 | 29,892 | 159,000 | 0.08 |
| Chariot Oil & Gas | Larry Bottomley (ce) | 24 Sep 13 | 265,000 | 18.8 | 49,820 | 305,393 | 0.15 |
| Clarkson | Peter Blackhouse | 27 Sep 13 | 3,500 | 2,262 | 79,170 | 3,500 | 0.02 |
| CLS Holdings † | Sten Mortstedt (ch) | 24 Sep 13 | 200 | 1,160 | 2,320 | 22,692,486 | 53.58 |
| Compass | John Bason | 27 Sep 13 | 1,760 | 849.5 | 14,951 | 8,454 | neg |
| Conygar Investment Company (The) | Nigel Hamway (ch) | 27 Sep 13 | 17,500 | 130 | 22,750 | 984,500 | 1.11 |
| Conygar Investment Company (The) | Preston Rabl | 19 Sep 13 | 250,000 | 128.5 | 321,250 | 1,145,480 | 1.29 |
| Enegi Oil | Dominic Minty (cfo) | 19 Sep 13 | 1,600,000 | 9 | 144,000 | 4,600,000 | 2.93 |
| Falkland Islands Holdings | Jeremy Brade | 24 Sep 13 | 800 | 348 | 2,784 | 15,500 | 0.12 |
| Global Energy Development | Mikel Faulkner (ch) | 24 Sep 13 | 10,000 | 100 | 10,000 | 360,000 | 1.00 |
| Global Energy Development | Mikel Faulkner (ch) | 25 Sep 13 | 10,000 | 100 | 10,000 | 370,000 | 1.02 |
| Graphite Enterprise Trust | Lucinda Riches | 25 Sep 13 | 10,000 | 530.3 | 53,030 | 20,000 | 0.03 |
| Gulf Keystone Petroleum | John Bell | 19 Sep 13 | 72,200 | 201 | 145,122 | 72,200 | 0.01 |
| Gulf Keystone Petroleum | Simon Murray (ch) | 27 Sep 13 | 160,000 | 196.01 | 313,616 | 160,000 | 0.0.18 |
| Hydrodec | Andrew Black | 23 Sep 13 | 1,200,000 | 12.875 | 154,500 | 86,367,021 | 20.44 |
| Intercede | Ian Drew | 25 Sep 13 | 30,000 | 100 | 30,000 | 47,000 | 0.10 |
| Keycom | Jocelin Harris (ch) | 26 Sep 13 | 25,000 | 11 | 2,750 | 43,750 | 0.63 |
| Lonmin | Jim Sutcliffe | 25 Sep 13 | 4,000 | 328.64 | 13,146 | 16,700 | 0.00 |
| Metminco | TP Read (ch) | 23 Sep 13 | 400,000 | 2.84 | 11,360 | 1,400,000 | 0.08 |
| MobilityOne | Dato' Hussein A. Rahman (ce) | 27 Sep 13 | 13,080,000 | 2.5 | 327,000 | 53,465,724 | 50.20 |
| MobilityOne | JYY Ping | 27 Sep 13 | 1,943,000 | 2.5 | 48,575 | 1,943,000 | 1.80 |
| Monks Investment Trust (The) | Karl Sternberg | 20 Sep 13 | 2,750 | 387.07 | 10,644 | 6,733 | 0.00 |
| Morgan Sindall | Simon Guiliford | 26 Sep 13 | 3,350 | 742.75 | 24,882 | 3,350 | 0.01 |
| Ormonde Mining * | Dr IK Anderson | 23 Sep 13 | 84,211 | 5.62 | 4,733 | 1,061,352 | 0.25 |
| Ormonde Mining * | JA Carroll | 23 Sep 13 | 63,158 | 5.62 | 3,549 | 2,184,251 | 0.52 |
| Ormonde Mining * | MJ Donoghue (ch) | 23 Sep 13 | 168,421 | 5.62 | 9,465 | 3,595,233 | 0.85 |
| Patagonia Gold | Gonzalo Tanoira (fd) | 23 Sep 13 | 842,580 | 11.5 | 96,897 | 7,143,255 | 0.84 |
| Patagonia Gold | Carlos Miguens | 23 Sep 13 | 7,608,090 | 11.5 | 874,930 | 132,680,199 | 15.51 |
| PayPoint | Andrew Robb | 25 Sep 13 | 2,000 | 1,081 | 21,620 | 6,000 | 0.01 |
| Porvair | Paul Dean | 23 Sep 13 | 5,000 | 248.74 | 12,437 | 5,000 | 0.01 |
| Premier Oil | Jane J Hinkley | 23 Sep 13 | 9,234 | 332.99 | 30,748 | 13,234 | 0.00 |
| Redhall | Richard Shuttleworth (ce) | 27 Sep 13 | 20,000 | 43.23 | 8,646 | 50,000 | 0.20 |
| Regenersis | Jog Dhody (cfo) | 24 Sep 13 | 39,000 | 255 | 99,450 | 355,285 | 0.71 |
| Regenersis | Tom Russell | 25 Sep 13 | 38,000 | 264 | 100,320 | 10,748,637 | 21.62 |
| SABMiller | JA Manzoni | 25 Sep 13 | 390 | 3,213.60 | 12,533 | 6,360 | 0.00 |
| Seeing Machines | Michael Roberts | 23 Sep 13 | 1,265,926 | 3.75 | 47,472 | 15,687,376 | 3.12 |
| Sierra Rutile | Jan Castro (ch) | 21 Sep 13 | 627,500 | 50 | 313,750 | 2,312,250 | 0.45 |
| Sierra Rutile | Michael Brown | 21 Sep 13 | 35,000 | 50 | 17,500 | 285,000 | 0.06 |
| SolGold * | Nicholas Mather | 25 Sep 13 | 775,600 | 7.5 | 58,170 | 63,297,348 | 10.48 |
| SolGold * | John Bovard | 25 Sep 13 | 203,595 | 7.5 | 15,270 | 3,307,553 | 0.55 |
| SolGold * | Brian Moller | 25 Sep 13 | 145,425 | 7.5 | 10,907 | 2,302,145 | 0.38 |
| SolGold * | Dr Robert Weinberg | 25 Sep 13 | 145,425 | 7.5 | 10,907 | 2,200,955 | 0.36 |
| Sound Oil | James Parsons (ce) | 27 Sep 13 | 63,829 | 9.4 | 6,000 | 263,366 | 0.09 |
| StatPro | Stuart Clark | 26 Sep 13 | 90,000 | 83 | 74,700 | 90,000 | 0.13 |
| Sweett | M Henderson (ch) | 24 Sep 13 | 20,000 | 44 | 8,800 | 497,644 | 0.73 |
| Sweett | D Webster (ce) | 24 Sep 13 | 10,000 | 45.24 | 4,524 | 1,080,273 | 1.59 |
| Sweett | K Berry | 24 Sep 13 | 11,000 | 44 | 4,840 | 4,465,285 | 6.57 |
| Sweett | R S Mabey | 24 Sep 13 | 11,000 | 44 | 4,840 | 347,677 | 0.51 |
| Sweett | D C Wilton | 24 Sep 13 | 10,000 | 44 | 4,400 | 23,334 | 0.03 |
| TVC Holdings | John Tracey (ce) | 24 Sep 13 | 1,000,000 | 47.13 | 471,309 | 1,252,832 | 1.37 |
| TVC Holdings | David Doyle | 27 Sep 13 | 100,000 | 46.73 | 46,726 | 1,201,000 | 1.31 |
| Waterlogic | Peter Cohen (ch) | 20 Sep 13 | 50,000 | 127 | 63,500 | 50,000 | 0.06 |
SELLS:
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allocate Software | Ian Lang | 20 Sep 13 | 220,000 | 101 | 222,200 | 66,437 | 0.10 |
| Berendsen | Kevin Quinn (fd) | 20 Sep 13 | 25,000 | 920 | 230,000 | 164,620 | 0.10 |
| Carillion | Simon Buttery | 26 Sep 13 | 2,276 | 312.34 | 7,109 | 5,968 | na |
| Catlin | Joanne Mier | 27 Sep 13 | 38,500 | 479 | 184,415 | 87,531 | 0.02 |
| CRH | Erik Bax | 25 Sep 13 | 5,000 | 1,494.05 | 74,703 | 6,703 | na |
| Cropper (James) | Martin Thompson | 19 Sep 13 | 3,300 | 341 | 11,253 | 29,944 | 0.34 |
| Cropper (James) † | Martin Thompson † | 19 Sep 13 | 3,300 | 341 | 11,253 | 26,780 | 0.30 |
| Enegi Oil | Alan Minty (ch & ce) | 19 Sep 13 | 1,600,000 | 9 | 144,000 | 10,770,288 | 6.86 |
| Fuller Smith & Turner | James Douglas (fd) | 20 Sep 13 | 1,939 | 920 | 17,839 | 21,433 | 0.07 |
| Informa | Peter Rigby | 26 Sep 13 | 197,114 | 532.26 | 1,049,159 | 249,575 | 0.04 |
| Informa | Peter Rigby | 27 Sep 13 | 76,835 | 531.03 | 408,017 | 249,575 | 0.04 |
| Johnson Matthey | PC Framp | 27 Sep 13 | 2,674 | 2,835.4 | 75,819 | na | na |
| Jupiter Fund Management | Philip Johnson (cfo) | 24 Sep 13 | 200,000 | 377.16 | 754,313 | 1,308,384 | 0.29 |
| NMC Health * | Lord Clanwilliam | 19 Sep 13 | 5,732 | 324.04 | 18,574 | 2,865 | 0.00 |
| Prezzo | Jonathan Kaye (ce) | 25 Sep 13 | 1,300,000 | 115 | 1,495,000 | 19,784,000 | 8.50 |
| Prezzo | Adam Kaye | 25 Sep 13 | 1,300,000 | 115 | 1,495,000 | 6,762,107 | 2.91 |
| Prezzo | Sam Kaye | 25 Sep 13 | 1,300,000 | 115 | 1,495,000 | 6,877,608 | 2.96 |
| Restaurant Group (The) † | Stephen Critoph (fd & cs) | 25 Sep 13 | 120,000 | 536 | 643,200 | 263,220 | 0.13 |
| Restaurant Group (The) † | Alan Jackson (ch) | 25 Sep 13 | 150,000 | 538 | 807,000 | 250,191 | 0.12 |
| Restaurant Group (The) † | Andrew Page (ce) | 25 Sep 13 | 230,000 | 536 | 1,232,800 | 490,056 | 0.24 |
| Schroders | Michael Dobson (ce) | 24 Sep 13 | 67,250 | 2,562 | 1,722,945 | 335,369 | 0.15 |
| Schroders | Michael Dobson (ce) | 25 Sep 13 | 32,750 | 2,550 | 835,125 | 302,636 | 0.13 |
| Vedanta Resources | Navin Agarwal | 19 Sep 13 | 50,000 | 1,174 | 587,000 | 173,160 | 0.06 |
| Young & Co's | Torquil Sligo-Young | 27 Sep 13 | 1,500 | 670.0 | 10,050 | na | na |
* Placing † Spouse, related party
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
