Directors’ Dealings by Jenny Lowe

Directors have been dipping into the market and demonstrating their confidence in the future of their businesses this month, with a number of significant purchases catching the eye

Five directors of Digital Marketing Group have increased their holdings in the AIM-quoted company.

Chairman Stephen Davidson was the biggest buyer, purchasing 166,667 shares at 30p each, while four other board members bought a total of more than 210,000 shares in the online communications specialist. CEO Ben Langdon did, however, sell one million shares at 30p, though this sale related to the repayment of a loan taken out when he first invested in the business and he retains a 3.36 per cent stake.

News of these dealings came just days after the firm announced that it was consolidating its nine existing companies into two ‘pillar’ businesses, in a reorganisation move representing a further step in integrating earlier acquisitions, simplifying Digital Marketing Group’s management structure.

Daisy continues to grow
Meanwhile, shares in telecoms group Daisy, the Lancashire-based telecom services provider that leases network capacity from bigger rivals such as BT and Cable & Wireless, have more than doubled over the past year – at 96.5p, they value the company on AIM at £255 million – as it continues to expand through acquisitions.

Two of the company’s senior board members, CEO Matthew Riley and CFO Anthony Riley, bought £150,469 worth of Daisy shares on the release of a pre-close trading update indicating that the company has achieved ‘aggregate annualised synergies’ of £17 million, following the successful integration of Vialtus Solutions, AT Communications, Eurotel and Redstone Telecom.

Oxford’s reduced cash burn
Another big deal was seen over at chemicals firm Oxford Catalysts, where CEO Roy Lipski purchased 60,000 shares at 62.5p each. Oxford Catalysts, whose shares are currently priced at 68.5p, substantially reduced its cash burn in 2009, with outflow in the second half falling to £0.4 million from £3.9 million in the first half. The group ended the year with cash of £12 million, down from £16.3 million, which it said was sufficient for several years of operation.

Pierre Jungels, chairman at Oxford Catalysts, said, ‘2009 was a successful year as the group delivered on its key commercialisation objectives and secured over $50 million of non-dilutive funding to bring its technologies to market.’ Needless to say, ‘The board looks to the future with excitement and confidence.'

In its full-year report released last month, Oxford Catalysts said it expected its project base to return significant licence fee income going forward. It noted that the licence deals that have been pushed out from 2009 to 2010, causing a bit of investor disappointment, still have the potential to deliver revenues in the near term.

Elsewhere, directors at biopharmaceutical group Lipoxen remain fully confident in the AIM-quoted firm’s prospects as evidenced by their further investment in the company. Significantly, CEO Scott Maguire and CFO Colin Hill have together acquired a further 250,000 shares in the company at 6.95p and 6.83p per share respectively, levels higher than the current 6.75p share price, which values the business at less than £12 million.