Temporary power specialist APR Energy (APR) has seen some sizable share sales by top directors recently. Most notable was the sale by JCLA Cayman Limited of 1,700,300 shares at an average price of 1,110p on 8 November - that company is majority owned by APR’s chief executive John Campion and its group president and chief operating officer, Laurence Anderson. The share sale, which a statement reported as being "in connection with a matrimonial matter in respect of John Campion" represents around 1.8 per cent of issued share capital and netted around £19m.
Also selling was non-executive director Matthew Allen, as well as fellow non-executive, and company founder, Edward Hawkes - they sold 563,224 and 416,113 shares, respectively, at an average price of 1,110p per share. Combined, those disposals were worth nearly £10.8m.
Indeed, it doesn’t look like a bad time to book some profit. The shares hit a 52-week high of 1,177p on 23 October on news of the acquisition of the GE power rental business. Moreover, and as we noted when we covered the first half results (Hold, 1,023p, 28 August 2013), the shares aren't exactly cheap - they currently trade on around 23 times forecast earnings. Recent contract wins have been encouraging and the GE purchase is promising, but we stick with our hold stance to reflect the full rating and political risk in the countries - such as Libya - where APR operates.
Bosses buy into booming Kofax
Kofax's (KFX) recovery has continued into the first quarter. The document management software specialist reported that three-month revenue grew 9 per cent and that software license revenue rose 10.5 per cent. That's in line with guidance set in September and keeps the company on track to hit targeted full-year numbers.
Chief executive Reynolds Bish was typically upbeat, but it was chairman Greg Lock that backed it up with hard cash. Just days after the figures appeared, Mr Lock began a £235,000 spending spree that took his stake in the business to 786,000 shares; worth £2.86m. Non-executive director Chris Conway also bought 15,000 shares at 367p - worth just over £55,000 - and he now owns 300,000 shares.
Broker Panmure Gordon expects little change in EPS for the year to end-June 2014, but double-digit growth for the following two years is then anticipated. Strip out $72m (£44.7m) of net cash and Kofax's shares trade on a forward PE ratio of 16, dropping to nearer 14 in 2015. That, however, is hardly cheap and - at 364p - we still rate the shares a hold.
BUYS
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asian Plantations Ltd† | DN Melka (jceo) | 11-Nov-13 | 25,000 | 200.00 | 50,000 | 2,401,001 | 5.134623 |
| Aviva PLC | M Mire | 11-Nov-13 | 7,500 | 439.89 | 32,992 | 7,500 | 0.000255 |
| Barclays PLC | Wendy E Lucas-Bull | 08-Nov-13 | 2,000 | 253.90 | 5,078 | 2,000 | 0.000012 |
| BlackRock Commodities Income Investment Trust PLC | EW Warner | 11-Nov-13 | 20,000 | 111.50 | 22,300 | 20,000 | 0.021051 |
| Bowleven PLC | K Hart (ceo) | 13-Nov-13 | 100,000 | 45.00 | 45,000 | 2,662,364 | 0.903258 |
| bwin.party digital entertainment PLC | N Teufelberger (jceo) | 13-Nov-13 | 150,000 | 123.28 | 184,920 | 12,652,427 | 1.547149 |
| Camco Clean Energy PLC | JAF Marren (cfo) | 08-Nov-13 | 306,907 | 6.50 | 19,949 | 3,310,892 | 1.590802 |
| Camco Clean Energy PLC | SJ McGregor (ceo) | 08-Nov-13 | 153,846 | 6.50 | 10,000 | 4,241,592 | 2.037981 |
| Canaccord Genuity Group Inc | MD Harris | 07-Nov-13 | 15,000 | 375.12 | 56,269 | 78,500 | 0.076899 |
| Canaccord Genuity Group Inc | CN Bralver | 13-Nov-13 | 10,000 | 373.27 | 37,327 | 50,500 | 0.04947 |
| Canaccord Genuity Group Inc | DJ Kassie | 07-Nov-13 | 1,350 | 375.12 | 5,064 | 3,483,781 | 3.412746 |
| CRH PLC | E Bartschi | 12-Nov-13 | 5,200 | 1,598.68 | 83,131 | 7,200 | 0.000982 |
| Croda International PLC | S Foots (ceo) | 07-Nov-13 | 4,233 | 2,339.00 | 99,010 | 119,536 | 0.088035 |
| DCC PLC | Dr Pam Kirby | 12-Nov-13 | 2,500 | 2,826.58 | 70,665 | 2,500 | 0.002983 |
| DCG IRIS Ltd | R Fuller | 07-Nov-13 | 29,838 | 100.54 | 29,999 | 49,838 | 0.072096 |
| Dialight PLC | R Stuckes | 13-Nov-13 | 10,870 | 915.00 | 99,461 | 37,853 | 0.116975 |
| Dialight PLC | SC Bird | 13-Nov-13 | 10,000 | 900.00 | 90,000 | 12,000 | 0.037083 |
| Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust PLC | B Finlayson | 12-Nov-13 | 7,300 | 425.33 | 31,049 | 81,432 | 0.316184 |
| Frenkel Topping Group PLC | RC Fraser (md) | 11-Nov-13 | 78,525 | 29.90 | 23,479 | 3,385,405 | 5.353928 |
| Globo PLC | K Papadimitrakopoulos (md) | 12-Nov-13 | 100,000 | 62.27 | 62,270 | 69,645,197 | 18.637205 |
| Hrvatski Telekom DD† | D Grbavac | 07-Nov-13 | 1,600 | 2,972.18 | 47,555 | 6,180,247 | 7.547146 |
| Hrvatski Telekom DD† | D Grbavac | 08-Nov-13 | 1,500 | 2,973.22 | 44,598 | 6,181,747 | 7.548977 |
| Hydrodec Group PLC* | Lord Moynihan (ch) | 07-Nov-13 | 2,666,667 | 11.25 | 300,000 | 6,121,993 | 0.820029 |
| Hydrodec Group PLC* | AT Carruthers | 07-Nov-13 | 888,889 | 11.25 | 100,000 | 1,278,888 | 0.171305 |
| Hydrodec Group PLC* | CJ Ellis (cfo) | 07-Nov-13 | 444,444 | 11.25 | 50,000 | 892,293 | 0.119521 |
| Hydrodec Group PLC* | IM Smale (ceo) | 07-Nov-13 | 73,469 | 11.25 | 8,265 | 473,469 | 0.06342 |
| Hydrodec Group PLC** | A Black | 07-Nov-13 | 89,777,778 | 11.25 | 10,100,000 | 176,144,798 | 23.594261 |
| Hydrodec Group PLC** | Lord Moynihan (ch) | 07-Nov-13 | 2,666,667 | 11.25 | 300,000 | 8,788,659 | 1.177224 |
| ICAP PLC† | M A Spencer (gceo) | 13-Nov-13 | 500,000 | 394.75 | 1,973,750 | 109,375,485 | 16.88677 |
| International Ferro Metals Ltd | Tian Xia | 08-Nov-13 | 100,000 | 11.10 | 11,100 | 266,667 | 0.048134 |
| International Ferro Metals Ltd | SD Oke | 07-Nov-13 | 100,000 | 9.51 | 9,510 | 250,000 | 0.045126 |
| International Ferro Metals Ltd | A Grey (ch) | 07-Nov-13 | 100,000 | 9.25 | 9,250 | 1,566,667 | 0.282788 |
| International Ferro Metals Ltd | C Jordaan (ceo) | 07-Nov-13 | 100,000 | 9.25 | 9,250 | 300,000 | 0.054151 |
| International Ferro Metals Ltd | J Muller (fd) | 07-Nov-13 | 100,000 | 9.25 | 9,250 | 250,000 | 0.045126 |
| International Ferro Metals Ltd | SJ Turner (dch) | 07-Nov-13 | 100,000 | 9.25 | 9,250 | 7,391,667 | 1.334217 |
| International Ferro Metals Ltd | X Yang | 07-Nov-13 | 100,000 | 9.25 | 9,250 | 266,667 | 0.048134 |
| Kerry Group PLC | Joan Garahy | 07-Nov-13 | 1,050 | 4,708.00 | 49,434 | 1,050 | 0.000598 |
| Kofax PLC | GH Lock (ch) | 08-Nov-13 | 30,000 | 366.00 | 109,800 | 753,000 | 0.839736 |
| Kofax PLC | GH Lock (ch) | 12-Nov-13 | 28,000 | 379.00 | 106,120 | 786,000 | 0.876537 |
| Kofax PLC | CJ Conway | 08-Nov-13 | 15,000 | 367.00 | 55,050 | 300,000 | 0.334556 |
| Kofax PLC | GH Lock (ch) | 11-Nov-13 | 5,000 | 373.00 | 18,650 | 758,000 | 0.845312 |
| Medgenics Inc | Dr. SJ Barer PhD (ch) | 11-Nov-13 | 25,000 | 425.25 | 106,313 | 72,000 | 0.548876 |
| Meggitt PLC | DR Webb (cfo) | 07-Nov-13 | 15,000 | 505.38 | 75,807 | 25,648 | 0.003224 |
| Pacific Assets Trust PLC | JP Williams | 11-Nov-13 | 20,000 | 160.63 | 32,125 | 20,000 | 0.017116 |
| PureCircle Ltd | W Mitchell (cfo) | 13-Nov-13 | 20,000 | 365.50 | 73,100 | 907,000 | 0.551026 |
| Rialto Energy Ltd | RJ Shepherd (md) | 11-Nov-13 | 836,278 | 2.28 | 19,067 | 7,502,945 | 0.649895 |
| Shanta Gold Ltd | APW Durrant (ch) | 08-Nov-13 | 200,000 | 13.75 | 27,500 | 825,606 | 0.178682 |
| Shanta Gold Ltd | M Houston (ceo) | 08-Nov-13 | 200,000 | 13.75 | 27,500 | 1,217,189 | 0.263431 |
| Shire PLC | Dr. F Ornskov (ceo) | 13-Nov-13 | 22,000 | 2,819.00 | 620,180 | 22,000 | 0.003972 |
| Sirius Petroleum PLC | A K Kejriwal | 08-Nov-13 | 2,000,000 | 4.00 | 80,000 | 3,450,000 | 0.36426 |
| Starwood European Real Estate Finance Ltd | J Bridel | 08-Nov-13 | 7,000 | 102.00 | 7,140 | 7,000 | 0.00294 |
| Starwood European Real Estate Finance Ltd | JR Whittle | 07-Nov-13 | 7,000 | 101.64 | 7,115 | 7,000 | 0.00294 |
| Telecity Group PLC | Claudia Arney | 07-Nov-13 | 7,000 | 674.50 | 47,215 | 7,000 | 0.003454 |
| Unilever PLC | Dr BE Grote | 12-Nov-13 | 500 | 2,486.71 | 12,434 | 5,500 | 0.00042 |
| Waterlogic PLC | R Bell (cfo) | 08-Nov-13 | 5,000 | 105.00 | 5,250 | 5,000 | 0.006436 |
| Wincanton PLC | S Marshall (ch) | 11-Nov-13 | 20,000 | 125.00 | 25,000 | 20,000 | 0.016434 |
SELLS:
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amati VCT PLC | PA Lawrence (ch) | 07-Nov-13 | 42,293 | 69.75 | 29,499 | 89,593 | 0.195144 |
| Amati VCT PLC | C Pinney | 07-Nov-13 | 9,980 | 69.75 | 6,961 | 54,931 | 0.119646 |
| Amati VCT PLC† | C Pinney | 07-Nov-13 | 4,988 | 69.75 | 3,479 | 34,984 | 0.076199 |
| APR Energy PLC | MC Allen | 08-Nov-13 | 563,224 | 1,100.00 | 6,195,464 | 508,782 | 0.540663 |
| APR Energy PLC | E Hawkes | 08-Nov-13 | 416,113 | 1,100.00 | 4,577,243 | 425,888 | 0.452575 |
| APR Energy PLC† | J Campion (ce) | 08-Nov-13 | 1,735,000 | 1,100.00 | 19,085,000 | 7,059,707 | 7.502083 |
| BAE Systems PLC | Linda Hudson | 11-Nov-13 | 95,000 | 452.18 | 429,574 | 310,020 | 0.009538 |
| BAE Systems PLC | Linda Hudson | 12-Nov-13 | 95,000 | 450.90 | 428,356 | 215,020 | 0.006615 |
| Carillion PLC† | R J Adam (gfd) | 07-Nov-13 | 40,000 | 309.04 | 123,616 | 118,238 | 0.027481 |
| Cropper (James) PLC | NA Read | 13-Nov-13 | 2,795 | 352.00 | 9,838 | 21,738 | 0.244807 |
| Lancashire Holdings Ltd | JH Bishop | 07-Nov-13 | 4,807 | 804.99 | 38,696 | 0 | 0 |
| M Winkworth PLC | AJ Snarey | 07-Nov-13 | 800,000 | 169.00 | 1,352,000 | 80,487 | 0.634944 |
| Mondi PLC | A King (cfo) | 12-Nov-13 | 20,000 | 1,040.01 | 208,002 | 90,566 | 0.024689 |
| Mondi PLC | P Oswald | 08-Nov-13 | 10,000 | 1,015.00 | 101,500 | 152,756 | 0.041643 |
| Mondi PLC | P Oswald | 08-Nov-13 | 3,494 | 1,014.00 | 35,429 | 149,262 | 0.040691 |
| Mondi PLC | P Oswald | 08-Nov-13 | 6,506 | 1,013.00 | 65,906 | 142,756 | 0.038917 |
| Personal Group Holdings PLC† | Dr JP Barber (fd & cs) | 08-Nov-13 | 3,000 | 451.00 | 13,530 | 351,853 | 1.170321 |
| Pure Wafer PLC | SD Boyd (ch) | 07-Nov-13 | 5,000,000 | 7.75 | 387,500 | 15,008,107 | 5.437564 |
| Smurfit Kappa Group PLC | GPF Beurskens | 13-Nov-13 | 12,500 | 1,749.00 | 218,625 | 12,500 | 0.005455 |
*Placing/open offer †Spouse/connected party **Repayment shares
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
