Close Brothers' (CBG) finance director, Jonathan Howell, has banked some of his shareholding ahead of his departure from the group in November. Mr Howell sold a total of £1.7m-worth of shares in the challenger bank via two separate transactions. That looks well timed, given the share price's proximity to a 12-month high.
IC TIP:
Buy
at
1468p
The challenger banking sector has had its fair share of ups and downs during the past year. Intense competition in areas such as asset and motor finance, as well as tighter mortgage spreads, has put pressure on net interest margins. For that reason, Close Brothers has focused on taking a prudent underwriting approach, rather than accelerating its loan book growth. That paid off during the first half of the year: the net interest margin at its core banking business was stable at 8.2 per cent, while earnings beat expectations.
| Buys | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| 3i | Simon Borrows (ceo) | 17 May 18 | 250,000 | 970.0765 | 2,425,191 | 13,183,394 | 1.355 |
| Alumasc♥ | David Armfield | 22 May 18 | 14,400 | 135 | 19,440 | 69,400 | 0.192 |
| Amerisur Resources♥ | John Wardle (ceo) | 22 May 18 | 395,000 | 20.25 | 79,988 | 21,889,505 | 1.804 |
| Arc Minerals | Nick Von Schirnding (ch) | 17 May 18 | 471,075 | 2.73 | 12,860 | 7,631,075 | 1.416 |
| Arc Minerals | Nick Von Schirnding (ch) | 22 May 18 | 472,900 | 3.1 | 14,660 | 8,103,975 | 1.503 |
| BT | Mike Inglis | 21 May 18 | 24,492 | 203 | 49,719 | 29,091 | 0.000 |
| Boot (Henry) | Gerald Jennings | 21 May 18 | 3,400 | 304 | 10,336 | 7,150 | 0.005 |
| Brewin Dolphin | Caroline Taylor | 17 May 18 | 5,000 | 385 | 19,250 | 10,000 | 0.004 |
| British Land Co | Preben Prebensen | 17 May 18 | 20,000 | 698.808 | 139,762 | 20,000 | 0.002 |
| British Land Co | Simon Carter (cfo) | 21 May 18 | 7,300 | 691.78 | 50,500 | 7,300 | 0.001 |
| Burberry | Jeremy Darroch | 22 May 18 | 2,000 | 2,001 | 40,020 | 3,000 | 0.001 |
| Countryside Properties | Douglas Hurt | 18 May 18 | 5,800 | 375.5 | 21,779 | 5,800 | 0.001 |
| Countryside Properties♥ | Douglas Hurt | 18 May 18 | 5,800 | 375.5 | 21,779 | 11,600 | 0.003 |
| DX | Ian Gray | 22 May 18 | 350,000 | 9.34 | 32,690 | 600,000 | 0.105 |
| Fevertree Drinks | Kevin Havelock | 18 May 18 | 4,000 | 2,806.72 | 112,269 | 19,521 | 0.017 |
| Fevertree Drinks | Kevin Havelock | 18 May 18 | 5,000 | 2,806.45 | 140,323 | 15,521 | 0.013 |
| Georgia Healthcare | Ingeborg Oie | 22 May 18 | 10,000 | 299.9 | 29,990 | 39,000 | 0.030 |
| Gresham House* | Rachel Beagles | 22 May 18 | 10,976 | 410 | 45,002 | 10,976 | 0.058 |
| Gresham House | Rachel Beagles | 22 May 18 | 10,976 | 410 | 45,002 | 21,952 | 0.117 |
| Gresham House* | Simon Stilwell | 22 May 18 | 18,780 | 410 | 76,998 | 18,780 | 0.100 |
| Gresham House | Simon Stilwell | 22 May 18 | 18,780 | 410 | 76,998 | 37,560 | 0.200 |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals♥ | John Castellani | 22 May 18 | 1,000 | 1,376.95 | 13,770 | 3,500 | 0.001 |
| IXICO | Charles Spicer (ch) | 23 May 18 | 60,606 | 33 | 20,000 | 122,684 | 0.452 |
| InterQuest♥ | Gary Ashworth (ch) | 17 May 18 | 4,166,667 | 24 | 1,000,000 | 34,370,239 | 66.187 |
| Marston's | Andrew Andrea (fd) | 23 May 18 | 40,000 | 101.4 | 40,560 | 332,773 | 0.050 |
| Melrose Industries | Justin Dowley | 21 May 18 | 12,317 | 242.2 | 29,832 | 1,077,978 | 0.023 |
| Pets at Home | Peter Pritchard | 23 May 18 | 70,987 | 140.15 | 99,488 | 70,987 | 0.013 |
| Polemos | Nigel Burton (ch) | 23 May 18 | 2,272,727 | 1.2 | 27,273 | 8,248,660 | 7.927 |
| Robinson | Guy Robinson (fd) | 21 May 18 | 25,957 | 77 | 19,987 | 1,212,601 | 7.299 |
| Robinson | Guy Robinson (fd) | 21 May 18 | 27,009 | 77 | 20,797 | 1,186,644 | 7.143 |
| RockRose Energy | Richard Benmore | 23 May 18 | 7,691 | 435.6 | 33,502 | 196,140 | 1.279 |
| Speedy Hire | David Shearer | 18 May 18 | 50,000 | 59.348 | 29,674 | 200,000 | 0.038 |
| Speedy Hire | David Shearer | 18 May 18 | 50,000 | 59.5563 | 29,778 | 250,000 | 0.048 |
| Speedy Hire | Jan Astrand (ch) | 17 May 18 | 50,000 | 58.49 | 29,245 | 550,000 | 0.105 |
| Speedy Hire | Jan Astrand (ch) | 17 May 18 | 50,000 | 58.5 | 29,250 | 600,000 | 0.115 |
| Spirent Communications | Edgar Masri | 18 May 18 | 20,000 | 117.5676 | 23,514 | 20,000 | 0.003 |
| StatPro | Jane Tozer | 21 May 18 | 7,500 | 178 | 13,350 | 32,252 | 0.049 |
| Symphony International | Anil Thadani | 18 May 18 | 355,418 | 73.8895 | 262,617 | 66,410,508 | 13.537 |
| Symphony International | Anil Thadani | 21 May 18 | 153,159 | 75 | 114,869 | 66,563,667 | 13.569 |
| Tesco | Lindsey Pownall | 23 May 18 | 50,000 | 246.4 | 123,200 | 70,000 | 0.001 |
| Tritax Big Box REIT♥ | Richard Laing | 17 May 18 | 33,388 | 148.973 | 49,739 | 33,388 | 0.002 |
| Tyman | Mark Rollins | 17 May 18 | 15,000 | 330.5 | 49,575 | 40,000 | 0.020 |
| U and I | Marcus Shepherd (fd) | 21 May 18 | 16,102 | 235.8 | 37,969 | 184,447 | 0.147 |
| U and I♥ | Matthew Weiner (ceo) | 21 May 18 | 17,315 | 235.8 | 40,829 | 401,893 | 0.321 |
| U and I | Richard Upton | 21 May 18 | 16,751 | 235.8 | 39,499 | 3,068,777 | 2.453 |
| VR Education | Mike Boyce | 21 May 18 | 499,942 | 16 | 79,991 | 499,942 | 0.259 |
| Vodafone | David Nish | 17 May 18 | 12,881 | 194.08 | 24,999 | 87,018 | 0.000 |
| Zotefoams* | Gary McGrath (fd) | 18 May 18 | 3,773 | 530 | 19,997 | 5,009 | 0.010 |
| Zotefoams* | Stephen Good (ch) | 18 May 18 | 7,547 | 530 | 39,999 | 22,547 | 0.047 |
| Sells | |||||||
| Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
| Brooks Macdonald♥ | Andrew Shepherd | 21 May 18 | 1,000 | 1950 | 19,500 | 47,153 | 0.341 |
| Close Brothers | Jonathan Howell (fd) | 23 May 18 | 92,487 | 1,570 | 1,452,046 | 108,090 | 0.071 |
| Homeserve | Martin Bennett | 23 May 18 | 425,947 | 874.85 | 3,726,397 | 129,369 | 0.039 |
| Petards♥ | Paul Negus | 18 May 18 | 50,000 | 26 | 13,000 | 650,000 | 1.151 |
| Petards♥ | Paul Negus | 22 May 18 | 25,000 | 25 | 6,250 | 625,000 | 1.107 |
| * placing/tender/open offer ♥ spouse/connected party | |||||||
