- Director Andrew Stone is a trustee of four trusts that have sold Gamma shares
- Mr Stone sold 100,000 shares in the company earlier this month, raising £1.7m
Four trusts that count Gamma Communications (GAMA) non-executive director Andrew Stone as a trustee have each disposed of around £438,000 in shares. The disposals follow sales made by Mr Stone earlier in October, which earned him around £1.7m. Mr Stone is not a beneficiary of any of the four trusts, and as such his own stake in the company is unaffected by their disposals. The director has a 4.3 per cent stake in Gamma.
The director’s own share sales follow disposals made earlier this year, when Mr Stone banked another £1.76m in March and April. The company chose not to comment on his latest share dealings or those made by the trusts.
Gamma shares have edged up by 8 per cent since it released its half-year results on 8 September. The telecoms group has set about becoming a leading provider of unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) in the UK, Spanish, Dutch and German markets. UCaaS is a cloud-based communications framework that includes internet connectivity and call management. Acquisitions are a key part of the company’s growth strategy, and Gamma spent around £45m on four deals during the first seven months of 2020.
Last month, Gamma announced that it had grown its pre-tax profits by a fifth over its six months to the end of June, although the business has been negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. A hibernation scheme, which allowed customers to temporarily suspend payments, cost Gamma £1.2m. Most customers have since recommenced their payments, with the majority of sales billed on a monthly basis.
Analysts at Peel Hunt forecast full-year 2020 adjusted pre-tax profits and earnings per share of £60.5m and 51p, respectively, rising to £67.1m and 56p in 2021.
This latest flurry of disposals linked to Mr Stone will do little to inspire confidence in Gamma investors. But the sales aren’t out of character for the director, while there’s been no new information to suggest that the company is faltering in its push to spearhead the European UCaaS market. The shares aren't cheap at 33 times 2020 earnings estimates, but we’re content to maintain our rating for now given the company’s apparent resilience and the resumption in trade with the majority of its customers. Buy at 1,670p.
Last IC View: Buy, 1,585p, 8 Sep 2020
| Buys | |||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| Superdry | Julian Dunkerton (ceo) | 20 Oct 20 | 149 | 222,389 | |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | John Troiano | 21 Oct 20 | 1,363 | 196,134 | Average price |
| Oxford Biomedica | Martin Diggle | 22 Oct 20 | 780 | 194,895 | Purchased by PCA |
| Energean | Efstathios Topouzoglou | 16 Oct 20 | 528 | 112,100 | |
| Energean | Efstathios Topouzoglou | 15 Oct 20 | 533 | 106,600 | Purchased by PCA |
| Capital & Counties | Henry Staunton | 22 Oct 20 | 103 | 103,295 | |
| Capital & Counties | Ian Hawksworth | 23 Oct 20 | 106 | 94,612 | Purchased by PCA |
| Superdry | Julian Dunkerton (ceo) | 21 Oct 20 | 154 | 90,859 | |
| Watches of Switzerland | Ian Carter (ch elect) | 23 Oct 20 | 412 | 78,515 | |
| Victoria | Gavin Petken | 23 Oct 20 | 499 | 40,000 | |
| Triple Point Social Housing REIT | Tracey Fletcher-Ray | 23 Oct 20 | 106 | 39,999 | |
| Bodycote | Kevin Boyd | 27 Oct 20 | 677 | 20,312 | |
| Sabre Insurance | James Ockenden | 27 Oct 20 | 230 | 20,119 |
| Sells | |||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| Gamma Communications | Andrew Stone | 22 Oct 20 | 1,750 | 1,050,000 | Sold by PCAs. Andrew Stone is a trustee but not a beneficiary |
| Liontrust Asset Management | John Ions (ceo) | 22 Oct 20 | 1,230 | 814,875 | |
| Liontrust Asset Management | Vinay Abrol (cfo) | 22 Oct 20 | 1,230 | 814,875 | |
| Gamma Communications | Andrew Stone | 19 Oct 20 | 1,755 | 702,040 | Sold by PCAs. Andrew Stone is a trustee but not a beneficiary |
| Avacta | Alastair Smith (ceo) | 21-22 Oct 20 | 180 | 448,073 | Average price. Residual interest 2.5% |
| Bunzl | James McCool | 16 Oct 20 | 2,558 | 57,639 |
