Three of Mothercare’s (MTC) most senior directors have once again attempted to inspire market confidence in the ailing retailer, investing a combined £120,000 in shares through a placing, the day the group appointed administrators to its UK business.
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Chairman Clive Whiley, chief executive Mark Newton-Jones and finance director Glyn Hughes bought a combined total of 1.2m shares at 10p each. This was the third such coordinated purchase made by the three in the past 16 months. The first was in late July last year, after creditors voted not to approve one out of three proposed company voluntary arrangements, leading the group to announce a share placing. The second came in March of this year, shortly after it completed the disposal of Early Learning Centre.
The latest purchases happened the same day the group appointed PwC to oversee the administration of the UK business. The group’s 79 UK stores will now close, but its wider international portfolio of more than 1,000 stores will continue to trade.
| Buys | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| adept4 | Simon Duckworth (ch) | 1 Nov 19 | 1,200,000 | 1.470 | 17,640 | 6,900,000 | 1.507453 |
| Anglo Pacific | James Rutherford | 6 Nov 19 | 25,000 | 192.000 | 48,000 | 25,000 | 0.013776 |
| Anglo Pacific | Graeme Dacomb | 6 Nov 19 | 10,000 | 192.654 | 19,265 | 10,000 | 0.00551 |
| Banco Santander | Homaira Akbari | 1 Nov 19 | 5,000 | 3.600 | 18,000 | 14,000 | 0.000086 |
| Banco Santander | Ana O'Shea (ch) | 31 Oct 19 | 1,000,000 | 3.610 | 3,610,000 | 22,622,046 | 0.140194 |
| Banco Santander | Francisco O'Shea | 31 Oct 19 | 10,000,000 | 3.620 | 36,200,000 | 89,719,088 | 0.556012 |
| Banco Santander | Homaira Akbari | 4 Nov 19 | 5,000 | 3.670 | 18,350 | 19,000 | 0.000117 |
| BMO Global Smaller Companies | Anja Balfour | 4 Nov 19 | 7,419 | 134.000 | 9,941 | 47,419 | 0.007793 |
| Castleton Technology | Paul Gibson | 6 Nov 19 | 10,000 | 66.000 | 6,600 | 10,000 | 0.012238 |
| Castleton Technology | Dean Dickinson (ceo) | 5 Nov 19 | 34,750 | 67.600 | 23,491 | 219,750 | 0.268939 |
| Chaarat Gold | Martin Andersson (ch) | 1 Nov 19 | 13,282 | 38.000 | 5,047 | 146,491,065 | 33.18996 |
| Chaarat Gold | Martin Andersson (ch) | 1 Nov 19 | 20,000 | 38.000 | 7,600 | 146,511,065 | 33.1945 |
| Chaarat Gold | Martin Andersson (ch) | 1 Nov 19 | 100,000 | 38.100 | 38,100 | 146,631,065 | 33.22168 |
| Chaarat Gold | Martin Andersson (ch) | 31 Oct 19 | 15,000 | 38.200 | 5,730 | 146,472,783 | 33.18582 |
| Chaarat Gold | Martin Andersson (ch) | 1 Nov 19 | 5,000 | 38.200 | 1,910 | 146,477,783 | 33.18696 |
| Chaarat Gold | Martin Andersson (ch) | 1 Nov 19 | 20,000 | 38.200 | 7,640 | 146,531,065 | 33.19903 |
| Connect | Gary Kennedy (ch) | 6 Nov 19 | 200,000 | 29.157 | 58,314 | 260,000 | 0.104965 |
| Costain♥ | Anthony Bickerstaff (fd) | 1 Nov 19 | 2,010 | 171.150 | 3,440 | 324,147 | 0.299351 |
| GVC | John Gibson | 6 Nov 19 | 13,000 | 794.445 | 103,278 | 42,587 | 0.007317 |
| GVC | John Gibson | 6 Nov 19 | 12,000 | 796.495 | 95,579 | 29,587 | 0.005083 |
| Kingfisher | Thierry Garner | 30 Oct 19 | 60,000 | 212.700 | 127,620 | 60,000 | 0.00284 |
| Kingfisher | Bernard Bot (cfo) | 1 Nov 19 | 50,000 | 208.000 | 104,000 | 50,000 | 0.002369 |
| Legal & General | George Lewis | 1 Nov 19 | 394 | 264.550 | 1,042 | 25,221 | 0.000422 |
| Legal & General | Henrietta Baldock | 1 Nov 19 | 701 | 264.550 | 1,854 | 9,005 | 0.000151 |
| Legal & General | John Kingman (ch) | 1 Nov 19 | 1,620 | 264.550 | 4,286 | 326,963 | 0.005481 |
| Legal & General | Toby Strauss | 1 Nov 19 | 1,039 | 264.550 | 2,749 | 35,155 | 0.000589 |
| Legal & General | Kerrigan Procter (ceo) | 1 Nov 19 | 73 | 265.000 | 193 | 237,661 | 0.003984 |
| Legal & General | Nigel Wilson (ceo) | 1 Nov 19 | 73 | 265.000 | 193 | 9,232,793 | 0.15478 |
| Legal & General | Jeff Davies (cfo) | 1 Nov 19 | 73 | 265.000 | 193 | 2,602 | 0.000043 |
| McBride | Jeffrey Nodland (ch) | 4 Nov 19 | 110,000 | 70.870 | 77,957 | 130,000 | 0.0711 |
| Mortgage Advice Bureau | Nathan Imlach | 31 Oct 19 | 254 | 598.000 | 1,519 | 31,883 | 0.061774 |
| Mothercare* | Glyn Hughes (cfo) | 5 Nov 19 | 200,000 | 10.000 | 20,000 | 553,204 | 0.161834 |
| Mothercare* | Clive Whiley (ch) | 5 Nov 19 | 500,000 | 10.000 | 50,000 | 1,000,000 | 0.29254 |
| Mothercare* | Mark Newton-Jones (ceo) | 5 Nov 19 | 500,000 | 10.000 | 50,000 | 2,796,710 | 0.81815 |
| Norish | Timothy O'Neill (ch) | 4 Nov 19 | 12,500 | 75.000 | 9,375 | 3,032,500 | 10.08468 |
| Norish | Timothy O'Neill (ch) | 6 Nov 19 | 1,500 | 75.000 | 1,125 | 3,034,000 | 10.08966 |
| Pantheon International | Mary Sieghart | 6 Nov 19 | 1,325 | 2278.200 | 30,186 | 1,325 | 0.002449 |
| Rights and Issues Inv Trust | David Best | 5 Nov 19 | 480 | 1991.100 | 9,557 | 480 | 0.006335 |
| Rose Petroleum | Christopher Eadie (fd) | 4 Nov 19 | 759,500 | 1.240 | 9,418 | 2,477,004 | 1.225652 |
| Rose Petroleum | Christopher Eadie (fd) | 4 Nov 19 | 39,000 | 1.280 | 499 | 2,516,004 | 1.24495 |
| Standard Life Aberdeen | Jonathan Asquith | 5 Nov 19 | 20,000 | 310.710 | 62,142 | 20,000 | 0.000848 |
| Surgical Innovations | Paul Hardy | 1 Nov 19 | 500,000 | 2.240 | 11,200 | 6,808,744 | 0.856105 |
| Surgical Innovations | Paul Hardy | 5 Nov 19 | 100,000 | 2.300 | 2,300 | 6,908,744 | 0.868678 |
| The Royal Bank of Scotland | Mark Seligman | 31 Oct 19 | 10,000 | 213.690 | 21,369 | 30,000 | 0.000248 |
| The Royal Bank of Scotland♥ | Mark Seligman | 31 Oct 19 | 10,000 | 213.690 | 21,369 | 40,000 | 0.00033 |
| Totally | Michael Rogers | 6 Nov 19 | 50,000 | 13.500 | 6,750 | 150,000 | 0.250856 |
| Sells | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| Hilton Food | Philip Heffer (ceo) | 31 Oct 19 | 360,000 | 1000.000 | 3,600,000 | 3,823,172 | 4.678238 |
| Hotel Chocolat | Angus Thirlwell (ceo) | 6 Nov 19 | 1,200,000 | 420.000 | 5,040,000 | 36,366,769 | 31.57643 |
| Hotel Chocolat | Peter Harris | 6 Nov 19 | 1,200,000 | 420.000 | 5,040,000 | 36,366,769 | 31.57643 |
| Proton Power Systems | Faiz Nahab (ceo) | 5 Nov 19 | 5,791 | 0.250 | 1,448 | 595,605,682 | 91.84808 |
| Proton Power Systems | Faiz Nahab (ceo) | 5 Nov 19 | 274,000 | 0.290 | 79,460 | 595,611,473 | 91.84897 |
| Schroders | Michael Dobson (ch) | 6 Nov 19 | 8,359 | 3250.000 | 271,668 | 206,606 | 0.073134 |
| ScS | Paul Daccus | 6 Nov 19 | 6,250,000 | 220.000 | 13,750,000 | 9,853,024 | 25.92038 |
| *Placing/tender/open offer ♥Spouse/connected party | |||||||
