Business is improving at XP Power (XPP) , which makes so-called power controllers used in a range of healthcare, computer and industrial equipment. Revenue jumped by 11 per cent during the third quarter and order intake actually exceeded sales. Management have seen "encouraging signs" that global demand for the equipment made by XP’s customers is growing again, too, and even expect a modest sequential improvement in revenues for the second half.
XP's share price surged on the news. It’s now up over 83 per cent in little over a year to its highest since July 2011. That persuaded chairman Larry Tracey to trim the sizeable stake amassed cheaply since joining XP in 1990 - he sold 50,000 at 1,500p. However, former chief executive Mr Tracey still owns 1.23m shares, or 6.4 per cent of the business, and previous share sales have not always been an accurate guide to future performance - XP shares have rocketed 47 per cent since he sold 120,000 shares at 1,080p in February. They’re up 54 per cent since we upgraded to buy (1,031p, 10 Jul 2012), too, and cheap lending is driving customers to invest in new equipment. Trading at a big discount to foreign rivals, XP shares remain a buy at 1,592p. LW
Carpetright in need of CPR
Carpetright (CPR) chairman Lord Harris and his son Martin Harris, a board member and group development director, have together sold 416,500 shares, at 649p apiece, in the floor coverings business through their family property development company, Harris Ventures Limited. The sale represented 4 per cent of Harris Venture's holding in Carpetright, and leaves Lord Harris and his son with a combined 23.5 per cent stake in the company, which includes shares held outside of Harris Ventures.
Lord Harris explained that the sale, which generated roughly £2.7m, was for personal wealth management reasons, which implies that it had nothing to do with deteriorating trading at Carpetright. In the UK, like-for-like sales fell 2.5 per cent in the 10 weeks to 29 September, despite self-help measures and a better trading environment, while comparable store sales in Europe were down 7.6 per cent, with the group's Dutch business now expected to be loss-making in the first half. The weak trading resulted in a profit warning earlier this month, prompting analysts to slash earnings forecasts by as much as 35 per cent. The surprise departure of chief executive Darren Shapland further rattled the market. The shares have been volatile in the past year, falling 9 per cent, and come with an eye-watering PE ratio of 67 for 2014, which could only be justified by the prospect of recovery - and that's proved elusive for several years. Sell. JB
BUYS
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21st Century Technology | G Robinson (gfd) | 11-Oct-13 | 994,817 | 6.00 | 59,689 | 994,817 | 1.07 |
| 21st Century Technology | R C Singleton (ceo) | 11-Oct-13 | 1,500,000 | 6.00 | 90,000 | 1,500,000 | 1.61 |
| Alent | Noel E Harwerth | 14-Oct-13 | 551 | 340 | 1,873 | 1,993 | 0.00 |
| Aureus Mining* | J Martin | 10-Oct-13 | 5,000 | 32 | 1,600 | 5,000 | 0.00 |
| Aureus Mining* | D M Beatty | 10-Oct-13 | 10,000 | 32 | 3,200 | 60,000 | 0.02 |
| Aureus Mining* | D J R Reading (ceo) | 10-Oct-13 | 15,000 | 32 | 4,800 | 348,334 | 0.14 |
| Aureus Mining* | L G C Da Silva | 10-Oct-13 | 16,000 | 32 | 5,120 | 100,826 | 0.04 |
| Aureus Mining* | D G Netherway (ch) | 10-Oct-13 | 37,000 | 32.00 | 11,840 | 176,595 | 0.07 |
| Brown (N) Group | I G Fallon (dch) | 10-Oct-13 | 1,425 | 488.04 | 6,955 | 11,425 | 0.00 |
| Brown (N) Group | S Patterson | 10-Oct-13 | 10,000 | 463.54 | 46,354 | 10,000 | 0.00 |
| Cape | M J Speakman (cfo) | 14-Oct-13 | 10,446 | 239.30 | 24,997 | 35,352 | 0.03 |
| Cello Group | M C Scott (ce) | 10-Oct-13 | 7,710 | 64 | 4,934 | 928,779 | 1.12 |
| DDD Group | N O Brigstocke (ch) | 15-Oct-13 | 200,000 | 6.00 | 12,000 | 2,007,045 | 1.40 |
| Dixons Retail | Andrea G Joosen | 16-Oct-13 | 20,700 | 45.67 | 9,453 | 20,700 | 0.00 |
| Europa Oil & Gas | R J H M Corrie | 14-Oct-13 | 15,996 | 9.25 | 1,480 | 103,496 | 0.08 |
| Grafton | M Chadwick (ch) | 14-Oct-13 | 200,000 | 588.51 | 1,177,010 | 19,636,079 | 8.46 |
| Hochschild Mining | I Bustamante (ceo) | 10-Oct-13 | 775 | 160.93 | 1,247 | 62,219 | 0.02 |
| Hrvatski Telekom DD | D Grbavac | 10-Oct-13 | 2,500 | 2995.26 | 74,882 | 6,102,357 | 7.45 |
| Hrvatski Telekom DD | D Grbavac | 11-Oct-13 | 10,000 | 3044.69 | 304,469 | 6,112,357 | 7.46 |
| Hutchison China Meditech | Edith Shih (cs) | 15-Oct-13 | 20,000 | 620.00 | 124,000 | 20,000 | 0.04 |
| Inland Homes | S D Wicks (ceo) | 10-Oct-13 | 50,000 | 39.90 | 19,950 | 16,287,332 | 8.09 |
| Inland Homes | P Brett | 10-Oct-13 | 60,000 | 39.90 | 23,940 | 3,504,214 | 1.74 |
| Jubilee Platinum | C Bird (ch) | 15-Oct-13 | 665,188 | 4.25 | 28,270 | 4,883,179 | 1.32 |
| Kenmare Resources† | J Deysel (coo) | 16-Oct-13 | 213,272 | 23.00 | 49,053 | 1,138,988 | 0.04 |
| Networkers International | N W Wray | 10-Oct-13 | 450,000 | 44.50 | 200,250 | 14,129,264 | 17.07 |
| Personal Group Holdings | H H Driver | 10-Oct-13 | 2,500 | 395.00 | 9,875 | 2,500 | 0.01 |
| Personal Group Holdings† | H H Driver | 10-Oct-13 | 2,500 | 395.00 | 9,875 | 5,000 | 0.02 |
| Pittards | J G L Holmstrom | 11-Oct-13 | 300,000 | 2.38 | 7,140 | 300,000 | 0.06 |
| Redrow | A N Hewson | 16-Oct-13 | 7,750 | 255.19 | 19,777 | 7,750 | 0.00 |
| Rialto Energy | A B Rose (interm cfo) | 10-Oct-13 | 6,334,317 | 1.91 | 120,700 | 6,415,977 | 0.56 |
| Royal Mail†† | A L Owen | 15-Oct-13 | 3,030 | 330.00 | 9,999 | 3,030 | 0.00 |
| Royal Mail†† | C Cath Keers | 15-Oct-13 | 3,030 | 330.00 | 9,999 | 3,030 | 0.00 |
| Royal Mail†† | D H Brydon CBE (ch) | 15-Oct-13 | 3,030 | 330.00 | 9,999 | 3,030 | 0.00 |
| Royal Mail†† | J M Allan CBE | 15-Oct-13 | 3,030 | 330.00 | 9,999 | 3,030 | 0.00 |
| Royal Mail†† | Jan Babiak | 15-Oct-13 | 3,030 | 330.00 | 9,999 | 3,030 | 0.00 |
| Royal Mail†† | M Lester (cfo) | 15-Oct-13 | 3,030 | 330.00 | 9,999 | 3,030 | 0.00 |
| Royal Mail†† | M V Higson | 15-Oct-13 | 3,030 | 330.00 | 9,999 | 3,030 | 0.00 |
| Royal Mail†† | Moya Greene (ceo) | 15-Oct-13 | 3,030 | 330.00 | 9,999 | 3,030 | 0.00 |
| Royal Mail†† | N Horler | 15-Oct-13 | 3,030 | 330.00 | 9,999 | 3,030 | 0.00 |
| Royal Mail†† | Orna G Ni-Chionna | 15-Oct-13 | 3,030 | 330.00 | 9,999 | 3,030 | 0.00 |
| Royal Mail†† | P C Murray | 15-Oct-13 | 3,030 | 330.00 | 9,999 | 3,030 | 0.00 |
| Secure Property Development & Investment | L Anagnostopoulos (ceo) | 11-Oct-13 | 1,500 | 70 | 1,050 | 25,500 | 0.10 |
| Software Radio Technology | A C Lapping | 14-Oct-13 | 50,000 | 29.50 | 14,750 | 1,181,080 | 1.02 |
| Synety Group | P J Williams (cfo) | 14-Oct-13 | 7,582 | 131.00 | 9,932 | 7,582 | 0.12 |
| Synety Group | P J Williams (cfo) | 16-Oct-13 | 11,240 | 133.45 | 15,000 | 18,822 | 0.30 |
| Synety Group | S W Cleaver (ch) | 11-Oct-13 | 38,500 | 132.00 | 50,820 | 275,106 | 4.35 |
| Waterlogic | P J Cohen | 14-Oct-13 | 20,000 | 103.00 | 20,600 | 70,000 | 0.09 |
| Waterlogic† | J Ben-David (ceo) | 10-Oct-13 | 50,000 | 116.00 | 58,000 | 20,004,138 | 25.75 |
| Waterman | G H Wright | 10-Oct-13 | 15,000 | 61.00 | 9,150 | 35,000 | 0.11 |
| Waterman | G H Wright | 11-Oct-13 | 15,000 | 61.00 | 9,150 | 50,000 | 0.16 |
| WH Smith | Suzanne C Baxter | 16-Oct-13 | 1,000 | 892.60 | 8,926 | 1,000 | 0.00 |
| Xplorer | J Roddison (cs) | 11-Oct-13 | 25,000 | 22 | 5,500 | 2,053,300 | 18.25 |
SELLS
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carpetright | M J Harris | 15-Oct-13 | 416,500 | 649.06 | 2,703,335 | 13,873,766 | 20.53 |
| Goodwin | B R E Goodwin | 16-Oct-13 | 3,901 | 3708.00 | 144,649 | 47,590 | 0.66 |
| Goodwin | M S Goodwin | 16-Oct-13 | 3,901 | 3708.00 | 144,649 | 95,867 | 1.33 |
| Goodwin | S R Goodwin | 16-Oct-13 | 3,901 | 3708.00 | 144,649 | 104,980 | 1.46 |
| Goodwin | J W Goodwin (ch) | 16-Oct-13 | 9,000 | 3708.00 | 333,720 | 58,369 | 0.81 |
| Goodwin | R S Goodwin (md) | 16-Oct-13 | 9,000 | 3708.00 | 333,720 | 24,338 | 0.34 |
| Grafton | M Chadwick (ch) | 14-Oct-13 | 200,000 | 588.51 | 1,177,010 | 19,636,079 | 8.46 |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals | S Darwazah (ch) | 16-Oct-13 | 30,000 | 1100.00 | 330,000 | 2,106,299 | 1.07 |
| Hilton Food | M J Bergman | 10-Oct-13 | 120,301 | 428.00 | 514,888 | 328,333 | 0.46 |
| Irish Continental Group | E Rothwell (ceo) | 10-Oct-13 | 20,000 | 2570.00 | 514,000 | 2,979,101 | 16.19 |
| Legal & General | N D Wilson (ceo) | 16-Oct-13 | 119,216 | 201.90 | 240,697 | 5,819,207 | 0.10 |
| Matchtech | G D P Materna (ch) | 15-Oct-13 | 20,000 | 502.50 | 100,500 | 7,857,405 | 31.97 |
| MyCelx Technologies | M D Clark (cfo) | 15-Oct-13 | 33,333 | 500.00 | 166,665 | 5,000 | 0.04 |
| Personal Group Holdings | K W Rooney (dch) | 15-Oct-13 | 36,000 | 400.00 | 144,000 | 5,963 | 0.02 |
| Proton Power Systems | T Melczer | 10-Oct-13 | 250,000 | 2.88 | 7,188 | 500,000 | 0.08 |
| Raven Russia** | S C Coe | 15-Oct-13 | 3,097 | 80 | 2,478 | 115,010 | 0.02 |
| Raven Russia** | D C Moore | 15-Oct-13 | 3,450 | 80 | 2,760 | 134,573 | 0.02 |
| Raven Russia** | M Slair (cfo) | 15-Oct-13 | 50,922 | 80.00 | 40,738 | 2,002,774 | 0.36 |
| Raven Russia** | G V Hirsch (ceo) | 15-Oct-13 | 77,749 | 80.00 | 62,199 | 3,032,274 | 0.54 |
| Raven Russia** | A J G Bilton (dch) | 15-Oct-13 | 477,455 | 80.00 | 381,964 | 18,620,868 | 3.33 |
| SpaceandPeople | Nancy J Cullen (coo) | 16-Oct-13 | 100,000 | 108.75 | 108,750 | 1,333,000 | 6.83 |
| TT Electronics | T H Roberts | 10-Oct-13 | 26,000 | 193.00 | 50,180 | 166,409 | 0.11 |
| Vesuvius | C O'Shea (fd) | 16-Oct-13 | 26,415 | 459.89 | 121,480 | 58,597 | 0.02 |
| Volga Gas | V Koshcheev | 10-Oct-13 | 50,000 | 87.00 | 43,500 | 469,210 | 0.58 |
| XP Power | L B Tracey (ch) | 11-Oct-13 | 50,000 | 1500.00 | 750,000 | 1,226,838 | 6.38 |
*Placing **Tender offer †Connected party/spouse ††Admission
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
