Boohoo (BOO) chairman Mahmud Kamani and co-founder Carol Kane have seized on the retailer’s recent share price weakness to build their personal stakes in the company. Boohoo has of late been dogged by allegations of poor worker practices in its UK supply chain, which wiped off as much as half of the company’s market value.
Boohoo shares had been on a sustained run until The Sunday Times reported on alleged worker malpractice earlier this month, with the shares having more than trebled since their March low. The retailer recorded a 45 per cent year-on-year turnover increase in its three months to the end of May, after lockdown prompted clothes shoppers to venture online.
These share price gains largely evaporated after the allegations broke, while top-10 shareholder Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) sold most of its shares in the group in response to the story. Around 40 per cent of Boohoo’s products are manufactured in the UK.
There have however been signs of a recovery, after Boohoo launched a review of its supply chain and lobbied home secretary Priti Patel in support of the British Retail Consortium’s campaign for a licensing scheme to protect factory employees. Boohoo is not a member of the BRC.
Mr Kamani and Ms Kane have purchased £10.7m and £4.3m-worth of shares respectively, while director Iain McDonald also bought £113,250 in shares via a contract for difference. A Boohoo spokesperson said that the dealings were motivated by the directors’ “collective confidence in the future of the business”.
| Buys | ||||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| AO World | John Roberts (ceo) | 14 Jul 20 | 154,495 | 143.97 | 222,426 | Residual interest of 22.58% |
| Babcock International | David Lockwood | 15 Jul 20 | 110,000 | 289.2 | 318,120 | CEO-designate |
| Babcock International | Ruth Cairnie (ch) | 15 Jul 20 | 10,000 | 286.2 | 28,620 | |
| Babcock International | Carl-Peter Forster | 15 Jul 20 | 10,000 | 288.2 | 28,820 | |
| Boohoo | Mahmud Kamani (ch) | 16 Jul 20 | 5,000,000 | 214.28 | 10,714,050 | Residual interest of 12.5% |
| Boohoo | Carol Kane | 16 Jul 20 | 2,000,000 | 214.28 | 4,285,620 | Residual interest of 2.6% |
| Boohoo | Iain McDonald | 16 Jul 20 | 50,000 | 226.5 | 113,250 | Acquired via a contract for difference |
| ULS Technology | Oliver Scott | 20 Jul 20 | 20,000 | 58.5 | 11,700 | Purchased by Kestrel Partners |
| MetalNRG | Pierpaolo Rocco | 20 Jul 20 | 2,733,000 | 0.47-0.5 | 13,046 | Residual interest of 2.27% |
| DCC | Caroline Dowling | 20 Jul 20 | 500 | 6,898 | 34,490 | |
| Midwich | Stephen Fenby | 21 Jul 20 | 25,000 | 377.36 | 94,340 | |
| Sumo Group | Andrea Dunstan | 21 Jul 20 | 33,333 | 180 | 59,999 | Residual interest of 0.033% |
| Sells | ||||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| MJ Hudson | Charles Spicer | 15 Jul 20 | 87,720 | 47.2 | 41,404 | |
| Honye Financial Services | Wanbao Xu | 16 Jul 20 | 5,627,000 | 35 | 1,969,450 | |
| Jarvis Securities | Jolyon Head | 16 Jul 20 | 7,500 | 600 | 45,000 | |
| Jarvis Securities | Jolyon Head | 16 Jul 20 | 2,500 | 623 | 15,575 | |
| Persimmon | Dave Jenkinson (ceo) | 16 Jul 20 | 50,000 | 2,621.67 | 1,310,835 |
