Last month it emerged that three co-founders and the finance chief of Melrose Industries (MRO) were to receive scrip bonuses equivalent to around £40m apiece in one of the biggest executive pay-days of recent times. This was made up of cashed-in share options and the issue of new ordinary shares, admitted to trading on 1 June.
Following that, executive vice-chairman and co-founder David Roper hived off 2m shares at the end of June, pocketing just north of £5m in the process. Earlier in the month the group's finance director, Geoffrey Martin, netted around £14.2m from a sale of 6m shares.
Although pay revolts are the order of the day, this feeding frenzy is unlikely to faze shareholders given that they approved the terms of the five-year incentive plan back in 2012. Management is now in clover simply because it has consistently delivered value for shareholders under the business model. Trough-to-peak, shares are up fivefold since the start of last year, registering a total return of 213 per cent on an annualised basis.
Buys | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
BH Macro | Huw Evans (ch) | 28 Jun 17 | 2,627 | 1,902.63 | 49,982 | 3,337 | 0.024 |
BT | Anthony Ball | 22 Jun 17 | 100,000 | 282 | 282,000 | 193,871 | 0.002 |
Card Factory | Karen Hubbard (ceo) | 26 Jun 17 | 13,456 | 296.1 | 39,843 | 65,253 | 0.019 |
Challenger Acquisitions | Mark Gustafson (ceo & ch) | 28 Jun 17 | 150,000 | 2.3 | 3,450 | 1,150,000 | 1.968 |
Chemring♥ | Michael Flowers (gceo) | 22 Jun 17 | 20,000 | 196.9 | 39,380 | 185,982 | 0.067 |
Comptoir | Tony Kitous | 27 Jun 17 | 502,500 | 20 | 100,500 | 50,502,500 | 52.607 |
Comptoir | Chaker Hanna (ceo) | 27 Jun 17 | 502,500 | 20 | 100,500 | 14,502,500 | 15.107 |
Comptoir | Richard Kleiner (ch) | 27 Jun 17 | 100,000 | 20 | 20,000 | 160,000 | 0.167 |
Concepta | Erik Henau (ceo) | 22 Jun 17 | 80,000 | 12.175 | 9,740 | 293,333 | 0.268 |
CyanConnode | John Cronin (ch) | 22 Jun 17 | 43,500,000 | 0.115 | 50,025 | 429,590,662 | 2.402 |
CyanConnode | Harry Berry | 22 Jun 17 | 14,000,000 | 0.14 | 19,600 | 110,559,292 | 0.618 |
CyanConnode | Simon Smith (cfo) | 26 Jun 17 | 13,333,333 | 0.15 | 20,000 | 223,967,014 | 1.252 |
Ironveld* | Giles Clarke DL (ch) | 26 Jun 17 | 2,000,000 | 2 | 40,000 | 11,148,580 | 2.507 |
Ironveld* | Nick Harrison | 26 Jun 17 | 250,000 | 2 | 5,000 | 4,397,840 | 0.989 |
Jubilee Platinum | Colin Bird (ch) | 22 Jun 17 | 1,250,000 | 3.83 | 47,875 | 10,366,512 | 0.927 |
Lekoil | Gregory Eckersley | 28 Jun 17 | 50,000 | 16.35 | 8,175 | 2,953,050 | 0.550 |
Lionsgold* | Cameron Parry (ceo) | 22 Jun 17 | 3,000,000 | 1.1 | 33,000 | 3,000,000 | 1.180 |
Nature | Berend van Straten (ch) | 28 Jun 17 | 15,000 | 2.6 | 390 | 865,000 | 1.091 |
Nature | Berend van Straten (ch) | 28 Jun 17 | 100,000 | 2.8 | 2,800 | 600,000 | 0.757 |
Nature | Berend van Straten (ch) | 28 Jun 17 | 250,000 | 2.75 | 6,875 | 850,000 | 1.072 |
Premier Oil | Tony Durrant (ceo) | 22 Jun 17 | 226,868 | 43.75 | 99,255 | 1,462,036 | 0.286 |
Premier Oil | Richard Rose (fd) | 26 Jun 17 | 25,000 | 44.80 | 11,199 | 82,391 | 0.016 |
ScotGems*♥ | Angus John Tulloch | 26 Jun 17 | 9,996 | 100 | 9,996 | 1,012,096 | 2.007 |
ScotGems*♥ | Angus John Tulloch | 26 Jun 17 | 9,996 | 100 | 9,996 | 2,009,996 | 3.986 |
ScotGems* | Angus John Tulloch | 26 Jun 17 | 1,002,100 | 100 | 1,002,100 | 1,002,100 | 1.987 |
ScotGems* | Angus John Tulloch | 26 Jun 17 | 1,002,100 | 100 | 1,002,100 | 3,012,096 | 5.974 |
ScotGems*♥ | Angus John Tulloch | 26 Jun 17 | 2,000,000 | 100 | 2,000,000 | 2,000,000 | 3.967 |
ScotGems* | James Anthony Findlay | 26 Jun 17 | 500,000 | 100 | 500,000 | 500,000 | 0.992 |
ScotGems* | William Henry Salomon (ch) | 26 Jun 17 | 250,000 | 100 | 250,000 | 250,000 | 0.496 |
ScotGems*♥ | Anne West | 26 Jun 17 | 125,000 | 100 | 125,000 | 125,000 | 0.248 |
ScotGems* | Anne West | 26 Jun 17 | 125,000 | 100 | 125,000 | 125,000 | 0.248 |
ScotGems* | Anne West | 26 Jun 17 | 125,000 | 100 | 125,000 | 250,000 | 0.496 |
ScotGems*♥ | Anne West | 26 Jun 17 | 125,000 | 100 | 125,000 | 250,000 | 0.496 |
Symphony International | Anil Thadani | 22 Jun 17 | 2,000,000 | 83.25 | 1,665,000 | 63,820,602 | 12.468 |
Symphony International | Anil Thadani | 26 Jun 17 | 228,760 | 60 | 137,256 | 61,820,602 | 11.982 |
Symphony International | Sunil Chandiramani | 26 Jun 17 | 171,570 | 60 | 102,942 | 18,104,480 | 3.537 |
Thor Mining♥ | Paul Johnson | 23 Jun 17 | 500,000 | 0.935 | 4,675 | 10,502,649 | 2.816 |
Thor Mining♥ | Paul Johnson | 26 Jun 17 | 500,000 | 0.89 | 4,450 | 11,002,649 | 2.950 |
W Resources* | Byron Pirola | 22 Jun 17 | 17,857,142 | 0.28 | 50,000 | 296,638,318 | 6.126 |
W Resources* | Michael Masterman (ch) | 22 Jun 17 | 17,857,142 | 0.28 | 50,000 | 1,054,398,982 | 21.773 |
dotDigital | Richard Kellett-Clarke | 23 Jun 17 | 70,000 | 70 | 49,000 | 390,000 | 0.132 |
Sells | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
Blue Prism | Alastair Bathgate (ceo) | 28 Jun 17 | 650,000 | 800 | 5,200,000 | 5,658,462 | 9.062 |
Clinigen | John Bacon | 28 Jun 17 | 200,000 | 842.5 | 1,685,000 | 530,767 | 0.461 |
Clinigen | Peter George | 22 Jun 17 | 500,000 | 875 | 4,375,000 | 2,814,242 | 2.444 |
Escher | Fionnuala Higgins | 22 Jun 17 | 910,000 | 185 | 1,683,500 | 895,160 | 4.778 |
Escher | Liam Church (ceo) | 22 Jun 17 | 910,000 | 185 | 1,683,500 | 895,160 | 4.778 |
Franchise Brands | Robin Auld | 28 Jun 17 | 100,000 | 87 | 87,000 | 846,195 | 1.089 |
Investec | Stephen Koseff (ceo) | 23 Jun 17 | 200,000 | 575.64 | 1,151,276 | 5,245,775 | 0.787 |
Investec | Stephen Koseff (ceo) | 26 Jun 17 | 100,000 | 579.49 | 579,486 | 5,145,775 | 0.772 |
Melrose Industries | David Roper (vch) | 27 Jun 17 | 2,000,000 | 250.91 | 5,018,200 | 17,730,130 | 0.913 |
Nakama | Ken Ford (ch) | 26 Jun 17 | 9,500,000 | 1.8 | 171,000 | 3,999,997 | 3.396 |
Nakama | John Higham (dch) | 26 Jun 17 | 7,430,000 | 1.8 | 133,740 | 1,838,078 | 1.560 |
Polar Capital | Brian Ashford-Russell | 28 Jun 17 | 115,000 | 433 | 497,950 | 5,825,000 | 6.369 |
Polar Capital | Tim Woolley (ceo) | 28 Jun 17 | 150,000 | 433 | 649,500 | 5,000,000 | 5.467 |
SolGold | Robert Weinberg | 26 Jun 17 | 375,000 | 37.4 | 140,250 | 4,651,091 | 0.308 |
SolGold | Robert Weinberg | 27 Jun 17 | 355,000 | 36.9 | 130,995 | 4,296,091 | 0.284 |
SolGold | John Bovard | 26 Jun 17 | 375,000 | 37.4 | 140,250 | 4,213,813 | 0.279 |
SolGold | John Bovard | 27 Jun 17 | 355,000 | 36.9 | 130,995 | 3,858,813 | 0.255 |
* placing/tender/open offer ♥ spouse/connected party |