- Greggs' shares have doubled in the past six months
- Finance director and chief executive sell a combined £2.3m-worth of shares in recent weeks
Greggs (GRG) is known for selling baked treats at great prices and its senior executives have adopted this approach over the past month with their own holdings in the company. Finance director Richard Hutton sold £210,000 in shares in the first week of April and chief executive Roger Whiteside and his wife Elizabeth sold a combined £2.1m in shares at the end of March.
This came after a tough year, where much of the Greggs' workforce was put on furlough, while 820 people were let go and the dividend was suspended. Management saw a 3 per cent pay rise paused and bonuses were not paid out “in light of the financial outcome” of 2020.
Hutton had received a 9 per cent pay raise at the start of 2020 but this was brought back to a 6 per cent rise to £341,003 to fit with the pausing of a 3 per cent director pay rise. With the loss of bonuses and award shares, Hutton and Whiteside saw their pay decline by 67 per cent and 73 per cent, respectively, in 2020 compared with the year before.
A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about Hutton’s share sale.
The bakery chain has announced it will be expanding post-lockdown, opening 100 new shops this year alongside reopening its existing outlets. Investors were not worried by the 2020 pre-tax loss – its first since floating in the 1980s – and its share price has doubled in the last six months.
Greggs is on a solid footing despite the rough year. We see sales coming back quickly and the new shops show the company is confident those coming out of lockdown haven’t lost their fondness for sausage rolls or comfort food in general. Buy at 2,241p.
Last IC View: Buy, 2,306p, 16 Mar 2021
| Buys | ||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) |
| Boot (Henry) | Timothy Andrew Roberts (ce) | 06 Apr 2021 | 269-71 | 99,761 |
| Clarkson | Heike Truol | 06 Apr 2021 | 2,799 | 44,978 |
| Circassia | Ian Johnson (ch) | 01 Apr 2021 | 29 | 28,500 |
| Circassia | Michael Roller (cfo) | 01 Apr 2021 | 29 | 50,593 |
| Circassia | Johnthan Emms (coo) | 01 Apr 2021 | 29 | 19,984 |
| Everyman Media | Alex Scrimgeour (ce) | 08 Apr 2021 | 150 | 179,033 |
| Hill & Smith | Paul Simmons (ce) | 07 Apr 2021 | 1,504 | 55,137 |
| M&C Saatchi | Colin Jones | 01 Apr 2021 | 144 | 44,978 |
| Ocean Wilsons Holdings | Fiona Beck | 08 Apr 2021 | 842 | 42,100 |
| Purplebricks | Simon Downing | 06 Apr 2021 | 97 | 250,921 |
| RA International | Sangita Shah (ch) | 06 Apr 2021 | 46 | 49,910 |
| Watches of Switzerland | Tea Colaianni | 01 Apr 2021 | 663 | 29,954 |
| Watches of Switzerland | Robert Moorhead | 01 Apr 2021 | 673 | 29,996 |
| Watches of Switzerland | Ian Carter (ch) | 01 Apr 2021 | 685 | 109,167 |
| Sells | ||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) |
| essensys | Alan Pepper (cfo) | 06 Apr 2021 | 252 | 315,000 |
| Gamma Communications | Andrew Stone | 07 Apr 2021 | 1,760 | 1,319,856 |
| Gamma Communications | Andrew Stone | 08 Apr 2021 | 1,770 | 885,000 |
| Gamma Communications | Andrew Stone | 09 Apr 2021 | 1,780 | 1,299,699 |
| Greggs | Richard John Hutton (fd) | 06 Apr 2021 | 2,330 | 209,700 |
| Ten Entertainment* | Christopher Mills | 01 Apr 2021 | 229 | 2,286,565 |
| *Christopher Mills is a non-executive director of the issuer and Chief Investment Officer of Harwood Capital LLP | ||||
