Computacenter (CCC) chief executive Michael Norris has earned £2.4m in a share disposal, as the company’s share price hit a record high at the end of last week. Indeed, a wave of corporate clients transitioning to remote working has buoyed the IT reseller’s market value, which has more than doubled since its nadir during the March sell-off.
Small wonder given the company’s remarkably resilient performance in the first half, which prompted it to announce expectations for adjusted pre-tax profits of £180m in 2020, almost a fifth higher than consensus forecasts. The market was unsurprisingly upbeat on the news, pushing Computacenter’s share price up 4 per cent on the release, though Mr Norris’ disposal two days later did pare back some of that rise.
But investors should not be skittish: overall the outlook for the company remains unchanged. Its two biggest markets in Germany and the UK pulled through the first half relatively unscathed, with only a modest 2.8 per cent revenue decline in the former. A difficult macroeconomic backdrop typically affects an IT company’s sales in services – but so far Computacenter has been sheltered by the growth in its professional services segment, which was up 14 per cent in the last half.
| Buys | ||||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| Aviva | Amanda Blanc (ceo) | 11 Sep 20 | 324,887 | 307.8 | 1,000,002 | First purchase |
| Cairn Homes | Michael Stanley (ceo) | 14 Sep 20 | 500,000 | 72.3 | 361,667 | Shares priced in Euros (£1 = €1.08) |
| Cairn Homes | Alan McIntosh | 14 Sep 20 | 500,000 | 72.3 | 361,667 | Shares priced in Euros (£1 = €1.08) |
| Concurrent Technologies | Mark Cubitt (ch) | 11 Sep 20 | 20,000 | 110 | 22,000 | Now holds 0.03% of company |
| Domino's Pizza | Usman Nabi | 11 Sep 20 | 432,596 | 352.5 | 1,524,754 | Average price, purchased by PCA. |
| Domino's Pizza | Usman Nabi | 10 Sep 20 | 681,351 | 352.0 | 2,398,341 | Average price, purchased by PCA. |
| Domino's Pizza | Usman Nabi | 9 Sep 20 | 861,840 | 348.2 | 3,001,023 | Average price, purchased by PCA. |
| Immedia | Matt Horrocks | 15 Sep 20 | 2,000,000 | 10 | 200,000 | Subscription, includes purchases by PCA. |
| London Stock Exchange | Val Rahmani | 11 Sep 20 | 300 | 9065.7 | 27,197 | Purchased by PCA |
| McBride | Chris Smith (ceo) | 9 Sep 20 | 39,682 | 63 | 25,000 | |
| McBride | Jeff Nodland (ch) | 10 Sep 20 | 90,000 | 62.25 | 56,025 | |
| Ninety One | Hendrik du Toit/Kim McFarland | 10 Sep 20 | 938,518 | 212.4 | 1,993,108 | Purchased by PCA |
| Ninety One | Hendrik du Toit/Kim McFarland | 11 Sep 20 | 907,000 | 213.9 | 1,940,364 | Purchased by PCA |
| Ninety One | Hendrik du Toit/Kim McFarland | 14 Sep 20 | 1,000,000 | 213.5 | 2,135,169 | Purchased by PCA |
| Phoenix Spree Deutschland | Quentin Spicer | 15 Sep 20 | 8,000 | 315.9 | 25,272 | |
| Photo-Me International | Serge Crasnianski (ceo) | 11 Sep 20 | 384,818 | 49.94 | 192,178 | Purchased by PCA |
| Resolute Mining | John Welborn (ceo) | 10 Sep 20 | 103,125 | 56.0 | 57,751 | Shares priced in AUD (£1 = A$1.75) |
| Senior | Andrew Bodenham | 11 Sep 20 | 50,000 | 49.7 | 24,835 | |
| SimplyBiz | Neil Stevens (ceo) | 15 Sep 20 | 25,000 | 156.1 | 39,025 | Part of group purchase by directors. |
| Uniphar | Paul Hogan | 9 Sep 20 | 25,002 | 231.5 | 57,875 | Shares priced in Euros (£1 = €1.08) |
| Wm Morrison Supermarkets | Jeremy Townsend | 10 Sep 20 | 25,000 | 187.2 | 46,800 | |
| Wm Morrison Supermarkets | Lyssa McGowan | 12 Sep 20 | 20,000 | 180.8 | 36,151 |
| Sells | ||||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| Belvoir Group | Ian Maclean | 11 Sep 20 | 20,000 | 158.3552 | 31,671 | Immediate sale of exercised options. |
| Computacenter | Michael John Norris (ceo) | 10 Sep 20 | 100,000 | 2369.2 | 2,369,200 | Residual interest: 0.98% (including PCA holdings) |
| IntegraFin | Christopher Munro | 11 Sep 20 | 50,000 | 511 | 255,500 | |
| IntegraFin | Christopher Munro | 13 Sep 20 | 100,000 | 506.25 | 506,250 | |
| Sirius Real Estate | Alistair Marks (cfo) | 14 Sep 20 | 6,032,000 | 74.3 | 4,481,776 | Encumbrance of shares in exchange for €1.75m personal rolling credit facility |
| TBC Group | Giorgi Shagidze | 14 Sep 20 | 23,000 | 960 | 220,800 | |
| Uniphar | Padraic Staunton | 9 & 10 Sep 20 | 333,334 | 232.66 | 775,526 | Shares priced in Euros (£1 = €1.08) |
