Directors’ Dealings by James Crux

Global tech sector M&A activity grew for the third consecutive quarter in Q4 2009, bringing optimism about further deals in 2010. Against this backdrop, directors have been buying throughout February

At financial software concern Intelligent Environments, a long-standing AIM constituent, chairman Clive Richards contributed a little more than a quarter of the £750,000 recently raised at 9p – funds that will be used to develop the company’s NetFinance mobile banking platform, thereby upping his stake to 14.14 per cent.

Intelligent Environments increased profits 34 per cent in its first half to £457,535, though in December, chief executive Philip Blundell warned of the cancellation of a large order because the client was involved in a merger. Floated at 94p 14 years ago, the shares now languish at 9p, valuing the company at £15.8 million.

Turrell tucks in
Meanwhile Mark Turrell, boss of AIM-traded Imaginatik, bought 8,602 shares at 4.65p, splashing out a modest £400, following recent weakness, with the shares, as high as 10p over the past year, having fallen sharply in 2010.

His purchase takes his stake (including his wife’s interests) to 77.8 million shares, or 48.87 per cent of the business, whose software platform helps the likes of Boeing, Chubb and Pfizer to develop lucrative growth strategies. Cited as one of the 500 fastest-growing tech ventures in the ‘EMEA’ region in 2009, Imaginatik grew sales 26 per cent to £2.27 million in the half to September, though losses widened from £220,000 to £570,000.

Within the biotechnology sphere, non-executive directors have been dipping into the market for Silence Therapeutics, AIM-traded and focused on discovering therapeutics to treat serious diseases. They have bought on weakness, with the shares having waned to 13.25p against a 33p 52-week peak after Silence issued shares to fund its merger with Intradigm and raise £15 million.

‘NXD’ Annette Clancy sees value in the Silence story with her purchase of 68,284 shares at 14.49p, giving her a 0.02 per cent stake in the London, Berlin and Palo Alto based business. Fellow non-exec Jerry Randall joined her, acquiring a further 70,000 shares at 14.25p (for £9,975), thereby upping his interest to 0.04 per cent.

Non-executive directors of companies in other sectors have also been picking up shares at favourable prices. Over at LED lighting and electronics systems maker LPA Group, non-executive director Per Staehr bagged 15,000 shares at 32p, increasing his stake to a still-modest 0.57 per cent.

Staehr’s purchase came a matter of weeks after AIM counter LPA reported a record September year-end order book of £16.8 million (2008: £7.8 million), while acknowledging a challenging start to the current financial year, caused by project delays, which will curtail its September 2010 financials.

Last year’s results showed sales off more than 9 per cent at £13.7 million and pre-tax profits plummeting from £382,000 to £187,000. Despite recent troubles, LPA managed to pare gearing levels and leave the year’s total dividend unchanged at 0.9p. Nevertheless, the shares currently languish on a 52-week low of 30p, down from a past year’s high of 42.5p and valuing LPA at £3.4 million.

Murray sells at Mattioli
Over at pensions consultancy Mattioli Woods, sales and marketing man Murray Smith sold 100,000 shares at 230p and 235p while also selling a further 10,000 shares to his personal pension scheme at 230p. Following these moves, his beneficial interest in the Leicester-based firm falls to 1.46 per cent.

His colleague, finance director Nathan Imlach, sold 7,000 shares to his personal pension scheme at a price of 230p. His interest in the business is now 1.01 per cent of Mattioli, which, based on its current 237.5p share price, is valued on AIM at £41.1 million.

In late January, the company announced another solid set of financials, for the six months to November, showing a slight improvement in profits from £2.13 million to £2.16 million, on turnover reduced from £6.85 million to £6.59 million.