Director dealings: AB Foods chairman tucks in
With shares in Associated British Foods chairman trading only a little higher than their three-year lows, chairman Charles Sinclair dipped into the market to buy some shares in the Primark owner on Thursday.
Sinclair, the former Daily Mail & General Trust boss who has been on AB Foods' board since 2008, bought 3,240 shares at 2,594.87p to spend a touch over £84,000.
AB Foods' share price dropped from above 3,150p after its pre-close statement in September to not far over 2,400p, pretty much a three-year low if the one-day post-Brexit low of 1,910p is ignored.
Final results earlier in November did not inject much more confidence, while Kantar data on Monday showed slightly softer UK numbers for Primark in recent weeks.
However chief executive George Weston, who highlighted the company's "diversity of operations, broad geographical footprint and strong balance sheet", and Sinclair are not alone in being positive on prospects.
Analysts at Societe Generale, for example, upgraded their rating on ABF to 'buy' after the results and increased their target price on the stock to 3,150p based on forecasts for a sevenfold increase in sugar and sweetener profits in 2017 and an improvement in Primark’s like-for-like growth after a disappointing 2016.
"We are encouraged by Primark’s progress in the US. Primark’s margins will likely be hit hard in 2017 on FX, but think this is now fully discounted, as ABF has been the worst performer in staples since its September pre-close."
Top Director Buys
Bank Of America Corp. (BAC)
Director name: White,Michael
Amount purchased: 25,000 @ $20.14
Value: $503,499.98
Associated British Foods (ABF)
Director name: Sinclair,Charles J F
Amount purchased: 3,240 @ 2,594.87p
Value: £84,073.79
Cropper (james) (CRPR)
Director name: Cropper,Mark A J
Amount purchased: 2,000 @ 1,055.00p
Value: £21,100.00
Dods Group (DODS)
Director name: Patel,Nitel
Amount purchased: 100,000 @ 12.25p
Value: £12,250.00
Dods Group (DODS)
Director name: Lees,Diane
Amount purchased: 40,800 @ 12.25p
Value: £4,998.00
Law Debenture Corp. (LWDB)
Director name: Adams,Michael
Amount purchased: 29 @ 530.67p
Value: £153.89
Fidessa Group (FDSA)
Director name: Hamer,John
Amount purchased: 5 @ 2,399.00p
Value: £119.95
Fidessa Group (FDSA)
Director name: Aspinwall,Chris
Amount purchased: 5 @ 2,399.00p
Value: £119.95
Top Director Sells
Charles Taylor (CTR)
Director name: Schirmer,Christian
Amount sold: 12,794 @ 257.00p
Value: £32,880.58