Insider Special: best and worst director deals of 2024

Despite UK stocks lagging overseas peers, some well-timed director deals have netted big paper profits for bosses and investors. Graeme Evans also looks at others which board members hope will come good in 2025.

30th December 2024 08:58

by Graeme Evans from interactive investor

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Boardroom buying of Currys (LSE:CURY), Watches of Switzerland Group (LSE:WOSG) and Greencore Group (LSE:GNC) shares has resulted in big paper profits for directors and those investors who followed their lead during 2024.

The recent rebound of Burberry Group (LSE:BRBY) shares has also rewarded those who noted July’s flurry of purchases in the wake of Joshua Schulman’s appointment as chief executive.

Other well-timed purchases were by BT Group (LSE:BT.A) boss Allison Kirkby after she bought 450,000 shares at prices below 110p in February and March. These holdings have grown in value by £200,000 after shares topped 150p towards the end of her first year in charge.

When executive directors or independent board members put their own money on the line it can be a good sign that they think the stock market has gone too far in its reaction to bad news or has mispriced a turnaround strategy.

While it’s worth remembering that directors are invested for the longer term, a look back over our reporting of insider share purchases in 2024 reveals plenty of early successes as well as some that have not gone quite so well.

In the case of Currys, finance director Bruce Marsh has almost doubled the value of his initial £29,430 investment after buying shares in January at a price of 49p.

That purchase was at what turned out to be the bottom of a three-year downward spiral for the shares, having traded at 150p in April 2021 prior to a run of profit warnings.

Marsh’s move took place after the retailer’s Christmas update, when a steadier margin and improved sales trends in the Nordic region offered signs of the improvement to come. Having fended off the takeover interest of Elliott Advisors, the shares finished the year near to 94p.

This autumn’s recovery for Watches of Switzerland shares means the February purchases by board chair Ian Carter chair and finance director Anders Romberg are looking well-timed.

They spent a combined £341,000 at prices between 370p and 390p, investments that have since grown by £100,000 after a positive second quarter update left shares at 575p in December. That’s still short of the 700p seen towards the end of 2023.

A £50,000 purchase of Greencore shares by senior independent director Linda Hickey is now worth twice that sum after the supermarket sandwiches and ready meals supplier posted one of this year’s strongest performances in the FTSE 250 index.

She bought shares at 100p each, which compares with 76.4p when former Morrisons boss Dalton Philips took the helm in September 2022 and the 61p low point three months later.

They now trade near to 210p after the “leaner and more agile” group recently announced the resumption of dividend payment alongside a 36% rise in annual profits to £61.5 million.

The Burberry buying saw six directors including chair Gerry Murphy back prospects under a new chief executive by spending a total of £275,000 on the ailing shares.

Schulman replaced Jonathan Akeroyd two days after the company’s latest profit warning and suspension of 2025 dividend.

The insider board purchases happened at prices between 720p and 747p, which compares with December’s 965p after the previous month’s half-year results included a turnaround plan focused on the group’s British heritage and strength in outer garments.

Other timely purchases in the FTSE 250 included the investment by Mobico Group (LSE:MCG) chair Helen Weir, who spent £24,000 when shares were trading at 47.8p. That turned out to be the low point of a descent for the debt-laden National Express owner from more than 300p in 2021.

The stock has since rallied to 80p, boosted by half-year results showing a period of positive passenger demand and revenues growth, as well as the benefit of cost reduction initiatives.

In the FTSE 100 index, Rolls-Royce Holdings (LSE:RR.) non-executives have continued to enjoy the upside of the remarkable stock market run since the arrival of chief executive Tufan Erginbilgiç.

Dame Angela Strank, whose regular purchases in 2023 included one of £12,400 in February at a price of 126p, added further £20,000 tranches of shares in February and May of this year at 351.7p and 448p respectively. The stock has since reached 587p, valuing that initial February 2023 investment at £56,000 and adding another £20,000 to the other two purchases.

Boardroom colleague Wendy Mars bought shares as recently as September and is also sitting on a decent paper profit, having spent £50,000 at a price of 496p.

Other profitable purchases in the FTSE 100 included one of £60,000 by Compass Group (LSE:CPG) non-executive director Arlene Isaacs-Lowe, who bought her shares in May at 2,176p and has since seen the industry, education and events caterer move up to 2,662p, an increase in value of £13,500.

British American Tobacco (LSE:BATS) non-executive Karen Guerra has also done well after spending £99,000 on shares in February. Her move followed 2023’s 30% fall for shares due to US economic pressures, regulatory uncertainty and concern over illicit single-use vape products.

She made her investment at 2,380p, which compares with 2,992p in December.

Other board investments have yet to deliver returns, including at GSK (LSE:GSK) after finance boss Julie Brown spent £300,000 and chair Jonathan Symonds £55,000 at prices of around 1,575p in February. The shares traded in December near their low for the year at 1,329p.

Glencore (LSE:GLEN) directors are in a similar situation after their shares closed 2024 near to 370p, diminishing the value of purchases worth a total of £170,000 by non-executive directors Martin Gilbert and David Wormsley. These were priced at around 481p in May.

Outside the top flight, Fevertree Drinks (LSE:FEVR) chair Domenic De Lorenzo is sitting on a paper loss after spending £438,000 on shares in January at a price of 973.8p. The shares topped 1,200p in March, only to fall back to 700p by December.

Among the chief executives selling shares in 2024, Next (LSE:NXT) boss Simon Wolfson capitalised on the FTSE 100 retailer’s record valuation by raising £29.4 million in September.

The disposal of 290,000 shares took place at prices between 10,003p and 10,156p, starting the day after Next lifted its full-year profit guidance by another £15 million to £995 million.

The long-serving boss, whose remaining holding amounts to £100 million, also made a disposal after January’s forecast-beating Christmas trading update when he netted £5 million at a price of 8,430p. The shares were 9,904p in December.

These articles are provided for information purposes only.  Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties.  The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.

Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.

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