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Palmer-Baunack in the Marketplace

The chair of auto services group BCA has offloaded £1m-worth of shares
February 14, 2018

Car dealers are struggling in the face of a cyclical downturn exacerbated by a collapse in diesel car sales, as politicians crack down on polluting vehicles in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal. Amid a 25.6 per cent drop in diesel car sales – and despite growing registrations of petrol, electric and hybrid vehicles – a total of 163,615 new cars rolled out of UK showrooms last month, marking it as the worst January in three years.

IC TIP: Buy at 163p

Whether these industry sales pressures will translate into reduced re-marketing volumes for BCA Marketplace (BCA) – the owner of British Car Auctions – is debatable, although anecdotal accounts point to consumers and businesses keeping older cars running, where they might have once chosen to upgrade.

Against this backdrop, Avril Palmer-Baunack, who recently oversaw the auto services group’s move to a premium listing, has offloaded around £1.1m-worth of shares. However, we shouldn’t read anything into the deal at this juncture; BCA’s chair, who briefly ran haulier Stobart, has a hefty residual holding following a windfall for a group of senior directors at the end of last year.

Buys       
CompanyDirectorDateNo of sharesPrice (p)Value (£)Holding (shares)Holding (%)
3i  David Hutchison 01 Feb 183,00096028,80062,9660.006
3i  Jonathan Asquith01 Feb 183,00096028,80046,0010.005
3i  Simon Thompson (ch)01 Feb 183,10196029,77048,5580.005
3i  Stephen Daintith01 Feb 183,00096028,8004,2410.000
3i  Caroline Banszky01 Feb 183,00096028,80015,9950.002
3i  Peter Grosch01 Feb 183,00096028,8007,2490.001
Aquila Services  Derek Joseph (ch)07 Feb 18135,1353750,0003,005,5388.523
AstraZeneca Philip Broadley02 Feb 184154,846.3620,1122,7150.000
Atlantis Japan Growth Fund Richard Pavry01 Feb 1816,000241.7538,68040,0000.078
Blancco Technology♥Tom Skelton06 Feb 1815,00069.3310,40027,5000.043
Conviviality Mark Moran (cfo)05 Feb 1860,000299179,40060,0000.033
Conviviality David Adams (ch)05 Feb 1816,00030648,96074,1630.040
Conviviality Steve Wilson05 Feb 1848,500305147,925173,5000.095
Conviviality♥Diana Hunter (ceo)05 Feb 1815,00029744,550828,4760.452
Conviviality Diana Hunter (ceo)05 Feb 1850,000305152,500813,4760.444
Ergomed Peter George (ch)01 Feb 18500,000190950,000776,2501.736
FirstGroupDavid Robbie02 Feb 1830,000101.6530,49530,0000.002
Fulcrum Utility Services Wayne Hayes06 Feb 184,883,93561.63,008,5044,883,9352.320
Greene King Rooney Anand (ceo)07 Feb 1810,000503.450,340616,9470.199
Horizon Discovery♥Jonathan Milner05 Feb 18260,000178.8464,88010,050,6806.742
Horizon Discovery♥Jonathan Milner07 Feb 1890,492165149,31210,141,1726.802
Intermediate Capital  Rusty Nelligan05 Feb 185,0001,094.4554,723106,0420.037
Low & Bonar♥Martin Flower (ch)02 Feb 1850,0006231,000606,9120.184
Metal Tiger Charles Hall (ch)05 Feb 181,000,0002.07720,77030,858,4062.817
National Grid Mark Williamson01 Feb 1843,128805.0513347,20347,4600.001
Personal Assets Trust Paul Read07 Feb 1850039,920199,6001,0000.047
RPC  Kevin Thompson07 Feb 1810,00079979,90010,0000.002
Rank GroupClive Jennings (fd)01 Feb 1856,571226.5128,133119,0710.030
Rank GroupHenry Birch (ceo)01 Feb 18127,837226.5289,551227,8370.058
SQN Asset Finance Income Fund♥Paul Meader05 Feb 1823,00089.420,56247,0000.013
Stobart  Andrew Tinkler02 Feb 18250,000247.78619,45027,226,8117.741
Stobart  Andrew Tinkler07 Feb 18100,000238.8238,80027,326,8117.797
Taptica International Hagai Tal (ceo)06 Feb 1836,000398.3143,3889,411,50913.932
VPC Specialty Lending Investments♥Richard Levy07 Feb 1870,88579.856,5662,664,8960.723
Vietnam Enterprise Investments Dominic Scriven02 Feb 1836,423482.1175,59536,4230.017
XLMedia Ory Weihs (ceo)02 Feb 1826,737186.849,9454,058,5571.842
XLMedia Ory Weihs (ceo)02 Feb 1827,32218149,4534,085,8791.854
XLMedia Ory Weihs (ceo)05 Feb 1823,250171.539,8744,109,1291.865
Sells       
CompanyDirectorDateNo of sharesPrice (p)Value (£)Holding (shares)Holding (%)
Aquila Services  Steven Douglas07 Feb 18135,1353750,0003,144,3058.916
BCA Marketplace Avril Palmer-Baunack (ch)01 Feb 18600,000188.21,129,20013,813,8551.718
Colefax♥Robert Barker (fd)07 Feb 182,60052513,650262,9022.681
Colefax  Robert Barker (fd)07 Feb 182,60052513,650265,5022.707
Colefax♥Robert Barker (fd)07 Feb 185,00052526,250252,9022.579
Colefax♥Robert Barker (fd)07 Feb 185,00052526,250257,9022.630
Colefax  Wendy Nicholls07 Feb 1810,00052552,50087,3500.891
Ergomed Miroslav Reljanovic01 Feb 18500,000190950,00017,132,23738.318
Ergomed Miroslav Reljanovic01 Feb 182,000,0001903,800,00015,132,23733.845
Impax Asset Management♥Keith Falconer (ch)02 Feb 18475,000165783,7506,637,7755.090
Impax Asset Management  Keith Falconer (ch)02 Feb 183,376,5151655,571,2506,637,7755.090
Joules  Colin Porter (ceo)02 Feb 18750,0003252,437,5001,519,8221.737
Joules♥Neil McCausland (ch)02 Feb 1820,000329.9165,982475,3750.543
Joules  Neil McCausland (ch)02 Feb 18130,000325422,500495,3750.566
Latham (James) Chris Sutton02 Feb 181,2398059,97455,0640.280
Patisserie HoldingsJames Horler01 Feb 1847,116367.575173,187100,0000.100
Rank GroupMichael Burke (ch)01 Feb 18184,000226.5416,760579,5560.148
Telford Homes Andrew Wiseman (ch)02 Feb 1850,000407.2203,6002,203,9272.925
Telford Homes Andrew Wiseman (ch)02 Feb 1875,000410.61307,9582,253,9272.992
Titon  Nicholas Howlett05 Feb 1810,25017718,14338,5000.353
* placing/tender/open offer ♥ spouse/connected party