Free from what proved to be the less-than vice-like grip of would-be acquirer Non-Standard Finance (NSF), doorstep lender Provident Financial (PFG) is keen to strike out on its own, newly unencumbered by a hostile takeover bid (save for perhaps the resulting £20m advisory bill).
Leading that charge – it would appear – is non-executive chairman Patrick Snowball, who splashed out a cool £500,000 on Provvy shares within a day of NSF’s bid lapsing. The transaction is Mr Snowball’s first dealing since he joined Provident’s board on 21 September last year, which was five months before NSF made its unsolicited approach.
As such, the chairman has spent around half of his tenure defending Provident’s self-help actions and repeatedly appealing to independent shareholders to reject the all-share takeover attempt. In April, he told shareholders “Provident can generate far greater value for you... through delivering on its current strategy”.
Buys | |||||||
Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
Alliance Trust | Karl Sternberg | 03 Jun 2019 | 1,671 | 747.98 | 12,499 | 17,377 | 0.005 |
Assura | Jayne Cottam (cfo) | 04 Jun 2019 | 8,400 | 63.54 | 5,337 | 90,743 | 0.004 |
Assura | Jayne Cottam (cfo) | 03 Jun 2019 | 38,800 | 64.05 | 24,851 | 82,343 | 0.003 |
Aston Martin Lagonda | Andrew Palmer (ceo) | 03 Jun 2019 | 22,658 | 876.1 | 198,507 | 1,410,763 | 0.619 |
Aston Martin Lagonda | Mark Wilson (cfo) | 03 Jun 2019 | 5,664 | 876.1 | 49,622 | 199,999 | 0.088 |
Aston Martin Lagonda | Penny Hughes (ch) | 03 Jun 2019 | 5,474 | 876.1 | 47,958 | 6,000 | 0.003 |
AVI Global Trust | Graham Kitchen | 30 May 2019 | 2,500 | 740.67 | 18,517 | 6,500 | 0.006 |
Babcock International | Ruth Cairnie | 05 Jun 2019 | 10,000 | 476.63 | 47,663 | 10,000 | 0.002 |
Babcock International | Myles Lee | 05 Jun 2019 | 5,000 | 481 | 24,050 | 25,000 | 0.005 |
Baillie Gifford Japan Trust | David Kidd | 31 May 2019 | 7,500 | 767 | 57,525 | 30,000 | 0.033 |
Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust | Angela Lane | 03 Jun 2019 | 2,630 | 377.8 | 9,936 | 20,103 | 0.097 |
Ediston Property Investment Company | William Hill (ch) | 31 May 2019 | 19,942 | 99.6656 | 19,875 | 107,486 | 0.051 |
Elementis | Ralph Hewins (cfo) | 05 Jun 2019 | 10,000 | 139.812 | 13,981 | 14,660 | 0.003 |
Elementis | Paul Waterman (ceo) | 04 Jun 2019 | 3,500 | 1.81 | 6,335 | 428,372 | 0.074 |
Elementis | Paul Waterman (ceo) | 04 Jun 2019 | 6,500 | 1.83 | 11,895 | 424,872 | 0.073 |
Falanx Group | Michael Read (ceo) | 31 May 2019 | 114,000 | 2.1145 | 2,411 | 10,653,940 | 2.661 |
FireAngel Safety Technology | John Shepherd | 30 May 2019 | 214,434 | 46.5 | 99,712 | 237,497 | 0.517 |
First Derivatives | Virginia Gambale | 31 May 2019 | 3,125 | 4334 | 135,438 | 14,880 | 0.057 |
Georgian Mining* | Peter Damouni | 30 May 2019 | 500,000 | 2 | 10,000 | 907,500 | 0.678 |
Hammerson | Carol Welch | 03 Jun 2019 | 7,461 | 266.53 | 19,886 | 7,461 | 0.001 |
Hunting | Richard Hunting | 05 Jun 2019 | 1,550 | 520 | 8,060 | 468,133 | 0.280 |
Hunting | Keith Lough | 05 Jun 2019 | 3,000 | 524 | 15,720 | 5,000 | 0.003 |
Hunting | Carol Chesney | 05 Jun 2019 | 3,000 | 526 | 15,780 | 5,000 | 0.003 |
Informa | John Rishton | 03 Jun 2019 | 6,482 | 765.6 | 49,626 | 15,163 | 0.001 |
Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller Companies Inv Tst | Jane Lewis | 31 May 2019 | 3,899 | 509.9988 | 19,885 | 5,406 | 0.016 |
K3 Capital | Stuart Lees | 05 Jun 2019 | 28,125 | 131.57 | 37,004 | 678,125 | 1.607 |
K3 Capital | Stuart Lees | 05 Jun 2019 | 10,000 | 140 | 14,000 | 688,125 | 1.630 |
Majedie Investments | Jane Lewis | 31 May 2019 | 5,803 | 256.9661 | 14,912 | 5,803 | 0.011 |
Marks & Spencer | Humphrey Singer (cfo) | 31 May 2019 | 22,500 | 220.2 | 49,545 | 22,500 | 0.001 |
NMC Health | Prasanth Manghat (ceo) | 30 May 2019 | 75,000 | 2495.36 | 1,871,520 | 254,272 | 0.122 |
Provident Financial | Patrick Snowball (ch) | 05 Jun 2019 | 96,477 | 518.2562 | 499,998 | 96,477 | 0.038 |
Stobart Group | Warwick Brady (ceo) | 30 May 2019 | 50,000 | 125.9 | 62,950 | 256,205 | 0.069 |
Trafalgar Property* | James Dubois (ch) | 31 May 2019 | 2,500,000 | 0.4 | 10,000 | 4,000,000 | 0.820 |
Trinity Exploration & Production | James Menzies | 04 Jun 2019 | 175,000 | 11.25 | 19,688 | 1,150,000 | 0.299 |
Vitec | Ian McHoul (ch) | 30 May 2019 | 5,000 | 1136 | 56,800 | 5,000 | 0.011 |
VPC Specialty Lending Investments | Richard Levy | 31 May 2019 | 74,706 | 69.5 | 51,921 | 3,794,111 | 1.115 |
Wentworth Resources | Eskil Jersing (ceo) | 03 Jun 2019 | 265,097 | 21.5 | 56,996 | 265,097 | 0.142 |
Young & Co's Brewery | Patrick Dardis (ceo) | 04 Jun 2019 | 21,671 | 1765 | 382,493 | 106,407 | 0.357 |
Young & Co's Brewery | Torquil Sligo-Young | 04 Jun 2019 | 6,371 | 1765 | 112,448 | 291,119 | 0.977 |
Yourgene Health | Adam Reynolds (ch) | 31 May 2019 | 900,000 | 11 | 99,000 | 6,349,656 | 1.060 |
*Placing/tender/open offer ♥Spouse/connected party |
Sells | |||||||
Company | Director | Date | No of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Holding (shares) | Holding (%) |
Helical | Timothy Murphy (fd) | 05 Jun 2019 | 35,000 | 362.5 | 126,875 | 662,981 | 0.554 |
Investec† | Bernard Kantor | 03 Jun 2019 | 47,229 | 455 | 214,892 | 1,053,924 | 0.155 |
Investec† | Bernard Kantor | 31 May 2019 | 9,579 | 456 | 43,680 | 1,043,641 | 0.153 |
United Utilities | Russ Houlden (cfo) | 31 May 2019 | 22,168 | 789.8 | 175,083 | 55,132 | 0.008 |
*Placing/tender/open offer ♥Spouse/connected party †On market sale of shares to cover taxation due on vesting of conditional awards |