Greencore (GNC) chief executive Patrick Coveney sold 700,000 shares, worth £1.8m, on Friday 21 February. Mr Coveney has overseen the convenience food producer’s recent strategic reset, as it sold its US operations in late 2018 and acquired UK food-to-go supplier Freshtime in September last year. The group is intent on adopting a “distinctive and repeatable way of working” – or in other words, a scalable business model.
The sale occurred almost a month after the company’s trading update in January for its first quarter, when it reported pro-forma revenue growth of 0.7 per cent. Management said that it had made “steady progress” and confirmed its outlook for its 2020 full year. It did, however, acknowledge a challenging trading environment – not least reflected in reported revenue in “other convenience food” categories down by 3 per cent, reflecting the exit from longer life ready meals manufacturing at the Kiveton facility in the first half of last year.
The convenience food producer reported pro-forma revenue growth of 2.6 per cent in its results for 2019, although its reported top line contracted as a result of site disposals and exits in the period.
Mr Coveney joined the board in September 2005 as the group’s chief financial officer and was appointed chief executive in March 2008. The company announced separately on 11 February that its chief financial officer Eoin Tonge left the group to take up the same role at Marks and Spencer (MKS).
Greencore’s remuneration policy was approved at its shareholder annual meeting in December – although 31.6 per cent of shareholders voted against the policy. The group noted in January that in the coming months its board would consult with shareholders over the policy.
Mr Coveney now holds 0.81 per cent of Greencore’s issued share capital. Greencore declined to comment on the share sale.
| Buys | ||||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| Ryanair | Kyran McLaughlin | 18 Feb 20 | 30,000 | 525.6 | 157,680 | Converted from euros |
| Gateley | Peter Davies (Coo) | 18 Feb 20 | 89,170 | 200 | 178,340 | |
| Gateley | Heather Davies (PCA) | 18 Feb 20 | 176,295 | 200 | 352,590 | PCA of Peter Davies |
| Gateley | Michael Ward (Ceo) | 18 Feb 20 | 150,000 | 200 | 300,000 | |
| Gateley | Julie Ward (PCA) | 18 Feb 20 | 100,000 | 200 | 200,000 | PCA of Michael Ward |
| GRC International | Andrew Brode | 20 Feb 20 | 2,692,308 | 13 | 350,000 | |
| Checkit | Keith Daley (Cha) | 20 Feb 20 | 2,500,000 | 36 | 900,000 | 22.11% residual interest |
| Jubilee Metals | Colin Bird | 21 Feb 20 | 500,000 | 405 | 2,025,000 | |
| Johnson Matthey | Patrick Thomas (Cha) | 24 Feb 20 | 3,937 | 2,589 | 101,921 |
| Sells | ||||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| Whitbread | Louise Smalley | 18 Feb 20 | 5,000 | 4,734 | 236,700 | |
| Whitbread | Robert Smalley (PCA) | 18 Feb 20 | 3,000 | 4,768 | 143,040 | |
| K3 Capital | Elizabeth Ford | 19 Feb 20 | 100,000 | 252.241 | 252,241 | Wife of Tony Ford, exec vice chairman |
| Biffa | Michael Davies (Coo) | 19 Feb 20 | 86,990 | 300 | 260,970 | |
| Tesco | Tony Hoggett (Coo) | 19 Feb 20 | 59,932 | 256.414 | 153,662.54 | |
| TBC Bank | Nikoloz Kurdiani | 20 Feb 20 | 15,338 | 1,385 | 212,373 | |
| Kingspan | Geoff Doherty (Cfo) | 21 Feb 20 | 34,000 | 5,303.83 | 1,803,020 | Converted from euros |
| Kingspan | Geoff Doherty (Cfo) | 21 Feb 20 | 16,000 | 5,361 | 857,760 | Converted from euros |
| Greencore | Patrick Coveney | 21 Feb 20 | 700,000 | 250.5 | 1,753,500 | |
| TBC Bank | Vakhtang Butskhrikidze (Ceo) | 24 Feb 20 | 65,000 | 1,327 | 862,719 | |
| TBC Bank | Vakhtang Butskhrikidze (Ceo) | 25 Feb 20 | 20,000 | 1,340 | 268,008 |
