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Mason commits to Halfords

Halfords' new CFO has picked up 50,000 shares in the retailer following its recent Q3 update.
February 4, 2016

Jonny Mason, who joined Halfords (HFD) from Scandinavian chicken company Scandi Standard midway through last year, has forked out just over £185,000 to bump-up his holding in the retailer. The chief financial officer completed the transactions within a few days of a Q3 trading update, which showed that while gross margins remain under pressure, overall sales proved more resilient than recent estimates had suggested.

IC TIP: Buy at 376p

Like-for-like sales were broadly flat, but some segments of the business, such as bulbs/blades fitting and cycle repairs, provided cause for optimism. Gross margins are still expected to contract by a midpoint rate of 50 basis points, though this is seen as a reasonable decline given the potential impact of mild weather conditions on the high-margin car maintenance business.

Trading conditions are tough and Halfords has come up short of sales targets. As a consequence management has initiated a range of cost-containment measures, including a cut in bonuses for employees amounting to £2m. This played well with City analysts, though the retailer could be faced by an overarching issue if, as some pundits suggest, that recent sluggish bike sales pre-figure a market trend.

Buys
CompanyDirectorDateNo of sharesPrice (p)Value (£)Holding (shares)Holding (%)
7digital  Sir Don Cruickshank (ch)21 Jan 16653,0006.12539,996943,0000.870
Aberdeen New Dawn Investment Trust Susie Rippingall25 Jan 1612,500139.4317,42925,0000.020
BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust Robert Robertson26 Jan 166,00087652,56086,0620.180
Booker  Gary Hughes25 Jan 1620,000154.5830,91620,0000.001
Booker ♥ Karen Jones 26 Jan 166,740154.4710,411160,9010.009
Caledonia Mining CorpJohn Kelly22 Jan 1616,96541.277,00216,9650.033
Caledonia Mining CorpJohn Kelly22 Jan 1627,00067.4318,20543,9650.084
Carpetright Wilf Walsh (ce)27 Jan 1625,000400100,00025,0000.037
Carpetright ♥Neil Page (fd)27 Jan 166,25040025,00022,2820.033
Centrica Ian Meakins25 Jan 16976206.72,01722,510<0.001
Centrica Margherita Della Valle25 Jan 16963206.71,99125,6170.001
Centrica Steve Pusey25 Jan 16898206.71,85622,468<0.001
City Merchants High Yield Trust Winifred Robbins25 Jan 1657,512173.8799,996247,3300.286
City Merchants High Yield Trust Winifred Robbins26 Jan 1628,887173.0849,998276,2170.320
City Merchants High Yield Trust Winifred Robbins27 Jan 1685,958174.5149,997362,1750.419
City Natural Resources High Yield Trust Adrian Collins21 Jan 1625,00067.2516,813100,0000.150
City Natural Resources High Yield Trust Richard Prickett21 Jan 1614,00067.59,45039,0000.058
Collagen Solutions David Evans (ch)21 Jan 161,000,0007.575,00013,888,7308.103
Condor Gold Sir Jim Mellon25 Jan 16160,0002743,200198,8200.434
De La Rue ♥Philip Rogerson (ch)22 Jan 168,000422.233,77613,0000.013
Dixons Carphone Tony DeNunzio26 Jan 1650,000459.95229,97550,0000.004
Fidelity China Special Situations The Hon Peter Pleydell-Bouverie 21 Jan 166,759117.407,93578,6830.014
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust S Hayes21 Jan 1610,00054454,40020,0000.016
First Derivatives Seamus Keating (ch)22 Jan 1610,0001,550155,00025,3140.105
Fusionex International John Croft (ch)25 Jan 1613,80014820,42424,8000.052
Fusionex International Robin Taylor27 Jan 163,8361304,98716,6630.035
Halfords  Jonny Mason (cfo)25 Jan 1625,000367.291,80050,0000.026
Halfords  Jonny Mason (cfo)27 Jan 1625,000374.9993,74875,0000.038
Ideagen David Hornsby (ce)26 Jan 1642,00047.519,9509,446,0335.281
International Biotechnology Trust Caroline Gulliver25 Jan 162,50046811,7005,0000.013
JPMorgan Indian Investment Trust ♥JRA Judd22 Jan 161,0004764,7603,0000.003
Lowland Investment Co Karl Sternberg22 Jan 165001,2106,0506,2600.023
Lowland Investment Co Robert Robertson26 Jan 165,0001,17558,75039,2250.145
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets Rooney Anand22 Jan 1612,500160.3620,04512,5000.001
Nostrum Oil & Gas Eike v D Linden22 Jan 162,0003046,08015,1600.008
Polar Capital Technology Trust  M Charlotta Ginman-Jones21 Jan 162,74455215,1472,7440.002
Purplebricks  Michael Bruce (ce)26 Jan 16320,00078249,60041,237,22517.164
Purplebricks  Paul Pindar (ch)26 Jan 16300,00078.16234,48011,020,2814.587
Record ♥Dr. Cees Schrauwers22 Jan 16100,00025.2525,250330,0000.149
Rotala Simon Dunn (ce)27 Jan 167,92575.555,9871,501,0953.918
Sky Dave Lewis27 Jan 162891,0473,0268,7730.001
Sky Nick Ferguson (ch)27 Jan 165481,0475,73842,1400.002
Styles & Wood  Tony Lenehan (ce)26 Jan 163,5002508,75024,6880.349
Styles & Wood  Philip Lanigan (fd)26 Jan 162,0002505,00012,4130.175
SVG Capital ΩLynn Fordham (ce)28 Jan 1647,218482.66227,901531,0240.330
Thalassa Holdings Francis Smulders22 Jan 1620,000346,80020,0000.085
Universe  Robert Smeeton (fd)22 Jan 16240,0007.518,000626,2400.271

Sells
CompanyDirectorDateNo of sharesPrice (p)Value (£)Holding (shares)Holding (%)
ASOS Nicholas Robertson21 Jan 16198,5862,915.505,789,7836,801,4148.152
Experian † Brian Cassin (ce)25 Jan 1624,0441,142.72274,756117,0980.012
Stobart  Andrew Tinkler (ce)27 Jan 16824,939104857,93728,476,8118.270
SVG Capital ΩLynn Fordham (ce)25 Jan 1636,759482.66177,420483,8060.302
Universe  Baljit Tank22 Jan 163,500,0007.5262,50011,804,2575.104
*Placing/tender/open offer Spouse/connected party ΩTender offer †Shares sold to cover tax and social security under Recruitment & Retention Plan