Superdry’s (SDRY) shares are in the doldrums. Having hit the 2,100p mark at the start of 2018, they now trade at under 130p. Some hope was offered by the release earlier this month of solid annual results, in which a return to statutory profit was underpinned by chief executive Julian Dunkerton’s focus on a full-price strategy and by the reopening of the estate after the previous financial year was hit by shop closures and pandemic restrictions.
For the year to 30 April, revenue rose by 10 per cent and gross margin increased by 350 basis points to 56 per cent. House broker Peel Hunt said Superdry enjoys “a current trading position that defies much of the sector gloom”.
Dunkerton seems to be in a similarly bullish mood. He bought £2mn-worth of shares on 13 October at 111p a pop, taking his total shareholding to 24 per cent. A separate disclosure showed that Schroders has also been buying in – the asset manager now owns 5 per cent of Superdry shares, according to the filing.
The immediate retail environment is challenging. Superdry expects to post adjusted profit before tax in a range of £10mn-£20mn for the 2023 financial year, after recording £22mn for 2022.
| Buys | ||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) |
| Allied Minds | Sam Dobbyn | 13 Oct 22 | 10 | 60,000 |
| Arbuthnot Banking | Sir Henry Angest (ch) | 13 Oct 22 | 820 | 205,000 |
| AssetCo | Gary Marshall (cfo/coo) | 13 Oct 22 | 60 | 248,755 |
| Calnex Solutions | Jeff Wright (PDMR) | 12 Oct 22 | 143 | 128,700 |
| CLS | Anna Seeley (PDMR) | 5 Oct 22 | 145 | 49,300 |
| CLS | Lennart Sten (ch) | 11 Oct 22 | 138 | 38,584 |
| Darktrace | Catherine Graham (cfo) | 13 Oct 22 | 288 | 95,119 |
| Derwent London | Paul Williams (ce) | 11 Oct 22 | 1,926 | 49,613 |
| Derwent London | Nigel George (PDMR) | 11 Oct 22 | 1,926 | 49,613 |
| Derwent London | Damian Wisniewski (cfo) | 11 Oct 22 | 1,926 | 24,806 |
| Harbour Energy | Simon Henry | 14 Oct 22 | 415 | 41,502 |
| Intercede | Royston Hoggarth (ch) | 10 Oct 22 | 50 | 37,445 |
| IWG | Mark Dixon (ce) * | 13 Oct 22 | 118 | 354,300 |
| John Wood | Kenneth Gilmartin (ce) | 14 Oct 22 | 118 † | 105,175 † |
| LendInvest | Ian Thomas (PDMR) | 12 Oct 22 | 64 | 38,250 |
| M&G | Massimo Tosato | 12 Oct 22 | 164 | 99,263 |
| MS International | Michael O'Connell (cfo) | 11 Oct 22 | 323 | 29,100 |
| NCC | Lynn Fordham | 12 Oct 22 | 215 | 53,650 |
| Oxford Biomedica | Dr. Michael Hayden | 11 Oct 22 | 317 | 30,000 |
| Oxford Biomedica | Dr. Heather Preston | 11 Oct 22 | 317 | 30,000 |
| Oxford Biomedica | Dr. Sam Rasty | 11 Oct 22 | 317 | 30,000 |
| Oxford Biomedica | Catherine Moukheibir | 11 Oct 22 | 317 | 28,500 |
| Persimmon | Roger Devlin (ch) | 6 Oct 22 | 1,264 | 252,800 |
| PRS Reit | Rod MacRae | 13 Oct 22 | 86 | 21,375 |
| Public Policy | Simon Lee (ch) | 12 Oct 22 | 147 | 74,603 |
| Severfield | Rosie Toogood | 12 Oct 22 | 50 | 39,558 |
| Smart Metering Systems | Tim Mortlock (ce) | 13 Oct 22 | 711 | 100,007 |
| Smart Metering Systems | Miriam Greenwood | 13 Oct 22 | 702 | 25,061 |
| Sportech | Richard McGuire (ch) | 13 Oct 22 | 12 | 120,000 |
| Superdry | Julian Dunkerton (ce) | 13 Oct 22 | 111 | 2,015,205 |
| Supermarket Income Reit | Benedict Green (PDMR) * | 12 Oct 22 | 94 | 99,502 |
| Tesco | Byron Grote | 6-7 Oct 22 | 604 † | 60436 † |
| TPXImpact | Neal Gandhi (ce) | 7 Oct 22 | 47 | 22,361 |
| Victorian Plumbing | Mark Radcliffe (ce) | 6 Oct 22 | 40 | 400,000 |
Sells | ||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) |
| Oxford Nanopore Technologies | James Willcocks (PDMR) | 05-06 Oct 22 | 262 | 523,020 † |
| Spectra Systems | Donald Stanford | 11 Oct 22 | 156 | 23,400 |
| GlobalData | Mike Danson (ce) | 12 Oct 22 | 1040 | 7,800,000 |
| *Spouse/Family/Close Associate. **Placing/open offer †Converted from $ | ||||
