Directors Dealings

Shares in Arbuthnot Banking Group may not yet have fully recovered from the impact of the financial crisis, but they have rebounded in the recent rally, rising from a 192.5p low to a 52-week peak of 440p, valuing the company on AIM at £64.5 million.

A number of the company’s directors have put their hands in their pockets since results for the first half (showing pre-tax profits up 5 per cent at £702,000) were unveiled in the summer, suggesting a positive outlook.

In one of the largest deals in September, Gary Jennison, CEO of its secure trust bank arm, spent a total of £93,080 in two separate transactions, snapping up 13,000 shares at 362p and 12,000 at 383.50p. Following suit, Mike Bussey, CEO of its Arbuthnot Latham arm, and Neil Kirton, CEO of Arbuthnot Securities, each purchased 10,000 shares at £38,350 and £36,200 respectively.

Staying in the financial sector, two directors at alternative investment manager ARGO Group have recently upped their stakes with hefty purchases, confirming the AIM-quoted company’s view that there is potential for some profitable months ahead. Non-executive chairman Michael Rainer Kloter picked up 400,000 shares at a bargain 10p each at the beginning of September, closely followed by non-executive director Kenneth Watterson, who spent just under £15,000 on 88,141 shares at a higher 17p, in line with today’s price.

Some significant selling

However, while there have been some significant purchases over the past month, there has also been a number of high-value sales too, with star turn Abcam (the antibody retailer which recently reported a 118.5 per cent surge in annual profits to £17.4 million) providing a case in point.

Having previously graced the pages of Growth Company Investor as a buy, Cambridge-based Abcam, floated on AIM at 167p in 2005, has had a storming year, with its shares surging up from around the 500p level to test new highs north of £8 (now 857.5p). Perhaps unsurprisingly, certain directors have taken the opportunity to bank some gains.

The largest deal saw chairman David Douglas Cleevey sell two million shares, earning him £16 million. Similarly, CEO Jonathan Simon Milner sold one million shares for £8 million. On the same day, non-executive director Peter Keen and managing director David Warwick sold 35,157 shares and 20,000 shares, in transactions worth £281,256 and £160,000 respectively.

However, despite the raft of sales, non-executive deputy chairman Michael Redmond opted to increase his holding by forking out £120,300 on a further 15,000 shares at 802p each.

Over at another strong performer, Craneware, the £75 million software and services company venture focused on the US healthcare sector, non-executive director Neil Heywood has taken advantage of the recent hike in share price by selling 10,000 shares at 297p, earning him £29,700. AIM-quoted Craneware recently reported strong results for the year to June, showing pre-tax profit increased by 40 per cent to US$5.9 million (£3.6 million).

A sale at CVS

Elsewhere Simon Innes, CEO of high-growth veterinary services market consolidator CVS Group, took the opportunity to sell 500,000 shares at 150p after a bounce in the AIM-quoted group’s share price following strong annual results to June.

Financial highlights from CVS, an analysts’ favourite with plenty of growth to go for in the defensive veterinary surgeries market, included a 23.3 per cent rise in revenues to £76.6 million and cash generation almost doubled to £12.4 million.

Following the sale, Innes, the former CEO of Vision Express, still holds more than one million shares, or 2.03 per cent of the business, now trading at 163p, up from a 52-week low of 117.5p, and for which he has ambitious plans.