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Balfour Beatty chief exec tops up

Leo Quinn purchased additional shares in the group three weeks after it reported a first-half pre-tax loss
September 9, 2020

Balfour Beatty (BBY) chief executive Leo Quinn has bought shares worth £0.5m in the construction group. The purchase came two weeks after the group revealed that disruption caused by the pandemic forced it into a pre-tax loss over the first six months of the year. 

IC TIP: Hold at 236p

Around 27 per cent of UK construction sites and 11 per cent of those in the US were closed in April, which combined with a reduction in productivity and the cost of implementing new safe working procedures led to a marked drop in the operating margin in the first half of the year. In addition, Covid-19 has led to lengthened site programmes that have triggered a reassessment of the contract completion times, which has also contributed to the decrease in margins in the half year.

However, around 95 per cent of US and UK construction sites had reopened at the end of June and, if the recovery continues throughout the remainder of the year, management expects 2021 operating profits to be broadly in line with 2019. However, while Balfour’s order book stood 20 per cent ahead of the same time last year, there are signs the strong recovery in demand may begin to wane. 

The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction Total Activity Index registered 54.6 in August, and while any reading above 50 indicates growth in construction output, it was down from a near five-year high of 58.1 in July. Survey respondents mostly suggested that a lack of new work to replace completed contracts had acted as a brake on the speed of expansion.

Buys      
CompanyDirector/PDMRDateNo. of sharesPrice (p)Aggregate value (£)Comments
Photo-Me InternationalSerge Crasnianski (ceo)02 Sep 20500,00050250,000

Purchased by PCA

Balfour BeattyLeo Quinn (ceo)02 Sep 20226,127221500,002 
Fulcrum Utility ServicesJonathan Turner02 Sep 20150,00032.148,150

Purchased by PCA

Fulcrum Utility ServicesJonathan Turner03 Sep 20125,0003240,000

Purchased by PCA

Fulcrum Utility ServicesJonathan Turner03 Sep 2046,4563214,866

Purchased by PCA

Benchmark HoldingsTrond Williksen (ceo)02-03 Sep 20180,0004682,800 
AbbeyCharles Gallagher (ch)03 Sep 20107,7041,5751,696,339

Purchased by PCA

Fuller, Smith & TurnerRobin Rowland04 Sep 203,55156019,886

Purchased by PCA

Ninety OneHendrik du Toit/Kim McFarland04 Sep 2049,261213.39105,118

Purchased by PCA

RyanairMichael O'Leary (ceo)04 Sep 201,409,6911,02914,500,646

Converted from €, purchased by PCA

RyanairHoward Millar04 Sep 2015,0001,029154,296

Converted from €

3iPieter de Jong07 Sep 2040,000894.23357,690

Purchased by PCA

Ninety OneHendrik du Toit/Kim McFarland07 Sep 20110,040212.97234,350

Purchased by PCA

Sells      
CompanyDirector/PDMRDateNo. of sharesPrice (p)Aggregate value (£)Comments
Randall & QuilterAlan Quilter (ceo)02 Sep 20250,000153382,500

Residual interest 1.29%

RenishawDaniel John Deer07 Sep 2089,9005,0424,532,758 
Sage GroupRob Reid07 Sep 20120,000721.03865,236 
CreightonsMartin Stevens08 Sep 20100,0005656,000Sold by PCA