It is usually alarming when a company sheds over two-fifths of its market value in just one week, as Network International (NETW) did between Monday 14th and Monday 21st September. But more surprising is the fact that it simply is not clear why the share price tumbled by so much – even prompting a business update from the payments company, who said it was “not aware of any reason to justify the move”.
A wave of share purchases by five directors between 18th and 21st September, with an aggregate sum of £0.4m, was perhaps then an attempt to shore up confidence in the stock. Indeed, the company said in a statement that the buys “demonstrate the confidence that Network International directors have in the long-term growth prospects of the Company”. The purchases – as well as a brief note emphasising that the volume of payments it had processed were steadily improving in August and September – did offer some reassurance to investors, and the shares have now rebounded by around a quarter since the beginning of the week.
But the market is right to be cautious about Network International. While the pandemic has accelerated the shift to cashless payments, a nosedive in consumer spending has dealt a serious blow to its income statement. Pre-tax profits crashed 90 per cent in the six months ended in June and management has warned that it expects sales will drop by as much as a fifth in 2020.
Nevertheless, the company is pushing ahead with the $288m (£227m) purchase of DPO, an online commerce platform in Africa, which will be funded partly by a £205m equity raise back in July. The acquisition is expected to complete towards the end of this year.
| Buys | ||||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| Babcock International | David Lockwood (ceo) | 21 Sep 20 | 46,924 | 211.52 | 99,254 | |
| Crest Nicholson | Peter Truscott (ceo) | 21 Sep 20 | 44,000 | 168.87 | 74,301 | |
| DX Group | Ronald Series (ch) | 17 Sep 20 | 210,500 | 18.27 | 38,449 | Average price |
| DX Group | David Mulligan (cfo) | 18 Sep 20 | 116,000 | 17.25 | 20,010 | |
| Finsbury Food | John Duffy (ceo) | 21 Sep 20 | 173,913 | 57.5 | 100,000 | Purchased by PCA |
| Greencore | Gary Kennedy | 21 Sep 20 | 36,407 | 98 | 35,679 | |
| James Fisher | Eoghan O'Lionaird (ceo) | 18 Sep 20 | 4,329 | 1,148.56 | 49,785 | Average price |
| Network International | Simon Haslam (ceo) | 21 Sep 20 | 50,926 | 216 | 110,000 | |
| Network International | Rohinton Kalifa (ch) | 18 Sep 20 | 35,000 | 291 | 101,704 | |
| Network International | Victoria Hull | 21 Sep 20 | 66,319 | 224 | 148,517 | Average price |
| Ninety One | Hendrik du Toit/Kim McFarland | 17 Sep 20 | 124,996 | 208.72 | 260,890 | Purchased by PCA |
| Ninety One | Hendrik du Toit/Kim McFarland | 18 Sep 20 | 1,000,718 | 214.24 | 2,143,924 | Purchased by PCA |
| Ninety One | Colin Keogh | 18 Sep 20 | 20,000 | 211 | 42,280 | Average price |
| Photo-Me International | Serge Crasnianski (ceo) | 16 Sep 20 | 3,568,448 | 53 | 1,891,277 | Purchased by PCA |
| Redrow | John Tutte | 22 Sep 20 | 25,000 | 366.4 | 91,600 | Purchased by PCA |
| Rotala | Bob Dunn | 15-16 Sep 20 | 102,500 | 20.95 | 21,475 | Average price |
| Superdry | Julian Dunkerton (ceo) | 21 Sep 20 | 846,883 | 135.77 | 1,149,813 | Residual interest of 19.5% |
| TT Electronics | Jack Boyer | 18 Sep 20 | 12,926 | 198 | 25,593 | 10,126 shares purchased by PCA |
| Uniphar | Paul Hogan | 21 Sep 20 | 32,998 | 227 | 75,037 | Converted from € |
| Vistry Group | Greg Fitzgerald (ceo) | 21 Sep 20 | 18,288 | 542.7 | 99,249 | Purchased by PCA |
| WANdisco | David Richards (ch/ceo) | 18 Sep 20 | 6,000 | 405 | 24,300 | Average price |
| Sells | ||||||
| Company | Director/PDMR | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Aggregate value (£) | Comments |
| Anpario | Karen Prior | 18 Sep 20 | 85,000 | 398.41 | 338,650 | Average price |
| DS Smith | Stefano Rossi | 18 Sep 20 | 46,000 | 292.3 | 134,458 | Sold to meet tax obligations |
| Dechra Pharmaceuticals | Julian Heslop | 17 Sep 20 | 4,000 | 3,248 | 129,930 | |
| Electrocomponents | Karen Guerra | 16 Sep 20 | 24,756 | 716 | 177,263 | Average price |
| Gaming Realms | Jim Ryan | 15-17 Sep 20 | 1,000,000 | 22.53 | 225,300 | Average price |
| Highland Gold Mining | Eugene Shvidler (ch) | 18 Sep 20 | 17,978,758 | 300 | 53,936,274 | |
| Highland Gold Mining | Valery Oyf | 18 Sep 20 | 6,609,922 | 300 | 19,829,766 | |
| IG Group | Joe McCaughran | 18 Sep 20 | 18,356 | 844 | 154,925 | 10,000 shares sold by PCA |
| IG Group | Matthew Brief | 18 Sep 20 | 50,000 | 844.6 | 422,300 | Sale of derivative (spread bet) |
| Taseko Mines | Brian Battison | 18 Sep 20 | 100,000 | 132 | 132,371 | Converted from US$ |
