Trainline (TRN) chief executive Clare Gilmartin has earned £3.2m from a share disposal, just over a year after the ticketing platform listed on the London market. Management was unable to sell down shares for 12 months from the end of June 2019, the month Trainline went public.
The shares have been volatile since listing at 350p a share, which valued the company at £1.68bn. They crossed the £5 mark at the end of 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic struck, which more than halved their price. But rail passenger numbers evaporated in spring, while plans for many employees to work from home for the foreseeable future threaten the recovery of train operators and associated businesses such as Trainline.
Trainline’s shares have staged a mini-revival since their March collapse, although they sit around a tenth down on June levels. Rail passenger numbers have now returned to around a third of normal levels on National Rail services. The government is encouraging workers to return to offices, while new evidence on coronavirus transmission rates could help to continue this trend. Research by the Rail Safety and Standards Board published in August found that the risk of transmission aboard an Azuma rail carriage is low, at around 1 per 19,765 journeys, if a passenger is wearing a mask. Trainline hopes that its app will help persuade passengers back on to trains, some of whom might be unwilling to use ticketing machines.
Following her share disposal, Ms Gilmartin’s stake has fallen from 1.8 per cent to around 1.6 per cent. Trainline shares dropped 6 per cent on 1 September, the day the disposal was announced. The company declined to comment on the sale.
| Buys | ||||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| ConvaTec | Heather Mason | 25 Aug 20 | 10,000 | 198 | 19,787 | |
| Serco | Sue Owen | 26 Aug 20 | 10,000 | 139.42 | 13,942 | |
| Photo-Me International | Serge Crasnianski (ceo) | 27 Aug 20 | 1,545,000 | 49.99 | 772,346 | Purchased by PCA |
| Sabre Insurance | Andy Pomfret | 27 Aug 20 | 37,800 | 261.75 | 98,942 | |
| NWF | Richard Armitage | 28 Aug 20 | 10,000 | 204.2 | 20,416 | Average price |
| Naked Wines | Nicholas Devlin (ceo) | 28 Aug 20 | 4,651 | 457 | 21,255 | |
| Stobart Group | Lewis Girdwood | 28 Aug 20 | 50,000 | 24.96 | 12,482 | |
| Tesco | John Allan (ch) | 28 Aug 20 | 30,000 | 221.8 | 66,540 | |
| Sells | ||||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| London Stock Exchange | Diane Côté | 26 Aug 20 | 11,000 | 8,911 | 980,233 | |
| Persimmon | Dave Jenkinson (ceo) | 26 Aug 20 | 65,000 | 2,688 | 1,747,072 | |
| Persimmon | Dave Jenkinson (ceo) | 27 Aug 20 | 64,307 | 2,633 | 1,692,895 | |
| Trainline | Clare Gilmartin (ceo) | 27 Aug 20 | 800,000 | 400 | 3,200,856 | |
| Wizz Air | József Váradi (ceo) | 27 Aug 20 | 75,000 | 3,755 | 2,816,250 | Sold by PCA |
| Bunzl | Andrew Mooney | 27 Aug 20 | 500 | 2,499 | 12,495 | |
| Smith & Nephew | Mark Gladwell | 27 Aug 20 | 10,000 | 1,504 | 150,383 |
