Superdry slides as Dunkerton sells stake, Liberum downgrades to 'hold'

Superdry was under the cosh on Tuesday after ex chief executive officer and co-founder Julian Dunkerton sold a 6.7% stake in the company.

Dunkerton sold 5.5m shares in the group at 1,285p through a placing to institutional investors, which represents a discount of 6% to the closing price on Monday. He will pocket £71m from the sale, which takes his holding down to 18.5%. Still, Dunkerton will remain the biggest shareholder in the company.

Back in January, Dunkerton made £17.8m from the sale of a 1.2% stake in Superdry.

Liberum said the sale is "not wholly a surprise" considering his departure from the board and a senior management role at Superdry earlier this year, but it also potentially raises the question of what the ex-CEO thinks about the value of the current share price.

The brokerage downgraded its stance on Superdry to 'hold' from 'buy' following the recent share price move and given no near-term visible catalyst.

Liberum said the shares have done well in the past month, rising 17.5%. "We noted value at the time of the prelim results (5 July) and that this offered a good buying opportunity. This window has now passed and we move to 'hold' noting three catalysts that would make us turn more positive."

The first catalyst is earnings momentum, the second is brand vision, focus and values and the third is positive operational gearing.

"We look to see a signal that the group's move towards a more capital light model will see better conversion of sales growth into margin accretion," said Liberum.

At 1240 BST, the shares were down 8% to 1,256p.