Superdry (SDRY) has been falling out of fashion as inflation and rising living costs threaten to disturb the post-pandemic rebound.
The clothing brand’s difficulties first came to light in 2018 after a boardroom tiff led to the temporary removal of co-founder and chief executive Julian Dunkerton. Despite his return to the business in 2019, the shares have continued to fall. Dunkerton has since pioneered a “premium” revamp to mend profitability by steering away from discounts and increasing full-price sales. The signs have been promising so far. The apparel retailer swung to a £4mn half-year profit to 23 October, compared with an £18.9mn loss in the same period last year.
But investors were unmoved by the green shoots of recovery in its latest trading update, and the shares continued to fall in line with sector-mates Joules (JOUL) and Ted Baker (TED), whose low valuation has spurred private equity takeover bids. Superdry’s forward price/earnings ratio of 8.5 makes the shares “look extremely cheap”, according to broker Liberum, which expects the retailer to return to profit in 2022.
The valuation and turnaround progress could be behind Dunkerton’s recent £1.15mn purchase of 805,172 shares at an average price of £1.42. Dunkerton has steadily increased his stake in recent years, spending £1mn in October 2021, on top of a £1.5mn buy-in a year earlier.
Investors may have appreciated this vote of confidence, as the shares gained 7 per cent in the week after Dunkerton’s latest purchase.
Buys | ||||
Company | Director/PDMR | Date | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) |
AJ Bell | Evelyn Bourke | 31 May 22 | 287 | 150,000 |
AJ Bell | William Findlay Mackay (PDMR) * | 31 May 22 | 286 | 149,996 |
Assura | Jayne Cottam (cfo) * | 30-31 May 22 | 71 | 37,994 |
Bezant Resources | Colin Bird (ch) | 27 May 22 | 0.1 | 20,263 |
Cranswick | Tim Smith (ch) | 31 May 22 | 3,056 | 41,256 |
DCC | Mark Breuer (ch) | 27 May 22 | 5,587 | 55,870 |
DP Eurasia | Shyam Bhartia/Hari Bhartia/Pratik Pota * | 27 May 22 | 54 | 124,200 |
First Tin | Charles Cannon-Brooke (ch) * | 31 May 22 | 19 | 154,008 |
Foxtons | Nigel Rich (ch) | 30 May 22 | 39 | 54,180 |
Foxtons | Peter Rollings | 01 Jun 22 | 38 | 53,200 |
Hostmore | David Lis | 30 May 22 | 43 | 36,322 |
Hostmore | Gavin Manson (ch) | 30-31 May 22 | 43 | 150,158 |
Hostmore | Alan Clark (cfo) | 01 Jun 22 | 42 | 41,970 |
IntegraFin | Rita Dhut | 27 May 22 | 292 | 43,839 |
International Personal Finance | Gary Thompson (cfo) * | 31 May 22 | 84 | 25,275 |
IOG | Andrew Hockey (ce) | 01 Jun 22 | 24 | 21,465 |
Johnson Matthey | Rita Forst * | 27 May 22 | 2,197 † | 21,967 † |
Oxford Nanopore Technologies | Sarah Gordon Wild | 30 May 22 | 337 | 49,735 |
Plant Health Care | Dr Christopher Richards (ce) | 27 May 22 | 12 | 75,274 |
Rank | Richard Harris (cfo) * | 30 May 22 | 110 | 82,650 |
Renewi | Annemieke den Otter (cfo) | 02 Jun 22 | 701 † | 105,137 † |
Rotork | Peter Dilnot * | 27 May 22 | 267 | 26,703 |
S4 Capital | Scott Spirit (PDMR) | 30 May 22 | 297 | 49,555 |
Superdry | Julian Dunkerton (PDMR) | 27 May 22 | 142 | 1,144,955 |
Triad | John Rigg (ch) | 27 May 22 | 110 | 220,000 |
Triad | Charlotte Rigg | 27-30 May 22 | 114 | 74,380 |
Venture Life | Paul Mcgreevy (ch) | 30 May 22 | 34 | 50,005 |
Vistry | Greg Fitzgerald (ce) | 27 May 22 | 900 | 99,372 |
Company | Director/PDMR | Date | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) |
Anglo American | Ruben Fernandes (PDMR) | 31 May 22 | 3,831 | 383,100 |
NatWest | Andrew McLaughlin (PDMR) | 31 May 22 | 227 | 340,770 |
*Spouse/Family/Close Associate. † Converted from € / $ |