Hefty director purchases are often used by companies as a beacon of confidence in the business, telling potential investors there is belief somewhere in the company. San Leon Energy (SLE) boss Oisin Fanning did much more than that this week: he upped his stake in the oil producer from 1.8 per cent to 24 per cent, at a price of £20.6m.
Mr Fanning bought the 98m shares at 21p from San Leon’s biggest investor Toscafund Asset Management, which now holds just over 50 per cent of the company. A company spokesman said "others helped" with the purchase but no related parties were involved in financing the deal.
The sale took place on 7 May, which was also the ex-dividend date for a special payout for shareholders announced in late April. Mr Fanning said the 6p special dividend was coming because “visibility of future cash flow is strong”, including from debtor payments, services contracts and income from the OML 18 oil and gas asset, in which San Leon has a 10.6 per cent stake. Mr Fanning’s share of the special dividend would have been close to £6m.
A new pipeline is currently being built at OML 18, and a company spokesperson said this would “immediately” increase revenues by 30-40 per cent.
The debtor payments are linked to OML 18, and San Leon received $40m (£32.5m) in April from Midwestern Leon Oil and Gas, which is also its third-largest shareholder. Another $60m is expected by the end of the year.
This context makes the special dividend more understandable at a time of weak oil and gas prices. San Leon also has no debt and as of last month a cash balance of $74m.
Before the deal, San Leon had fallen to a multi-year low of 11p. The shares kicked up again before the £20.6m purchase, however, and the company is now trading at 25p.
A spokesperson said Mr Fanning had made the investment because he believes “in the company’s distribution policy”, and with $110-$120m coming into the company in the next 15 months, 50 per cent of this would be paid out to shareholders.
| Buys | ||||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| Metro Bank | Nicholas Winsor | 6 May 20 | 50,000 | 80.84 | 40,420 | |
| McColls | Dominic Lavelle | 6 May 20 | 50,000 | 47.39 | 23,696 | Joining the board as a non-exec director on 18 May |
| Ethernity | David Levi (ceo) | 7 May 20 | 59,162 | 40 | 23,665 | Beneficial interest of 20.9% |
| ThinkSmart | Peter Gammell | 7 May 20 | 500,000 | 18 | 90,000 | Beneficial interest of 9.94% |
| R.E.A. Holdings | David Blackett (ch) | 7 May 20 | 96,144 | 54.5 | 52,398 | |
| Phoenix Group | Caroline Jefford | 7 May 20 | 3,288 | 604.87 | 19,888 | PCA of Stephen Jefford, Group HR Director |
| WPP | Sandrine Dufour | 7 May 20 | 15,000 | 595.4 | 89,310 | |
| Smart Metering Systems | Miriam Greenwood | 7 May 20 | 3,402 | 593.23 | 20,182 | Beneficial interest of 0.021% |
| San Leon | Oisin Fanning (ceo) | 7 May 20 | 98,000,000 | 21 | 20,580,000 | Beneficial interest of 23.89% |
| Pure Gold Mining | Mark O'Dea | 7 May 20 | 129,000 | 49.39 | 63,710 | Converted from C$ |
| Metro Bank | Michael Snyder (ch) | 11 May 20 | 96,700 | 78.37 | 75,786 | |
| Sells | ||||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| GlaxoSmithKline | Nick Hirons | 5 May 20 | 1,666 | 34.11 | 56,836 | American Depositary Shares, converted from $ |
| Rentokil Initial | Daragh Fagan | 7 May 20 | 50,000 | 477 | 238,502 | |
| Croda International | Dr Keith Layden | 7 May 20 | 1,500 | 4,952 | 74,280 | |
| Croda International | Julie Layden | 7 May 20 | 300 | 4,960 | 14,880 | |
| Spirent Communications | Paula Bell (cfo) | 7 May 20 | 50,000 | 252.5 | 126,250 | |
| Spirent Communications | Dean Ritchie | 7 May 20 | 150,000 | 250.86 | 376,285 | PCA of Paula Bell |
