Shares of Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN), ASOS (LSE: ASC) and Quindell (LSE: QPP) have been really under the cosh this year. But directors have recently stuck their necks out and bought big.
At what price did these directors buy, and how much did they invest? Read on!
Standard Chartered
The shares of Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered have been falling all year, and took a further dive to a five-year low last week when management warned on full-year profits in a third-quarter trading update.
Two days later, non-executive director Byron Grote (who also sits on the Boards of Unilever and Anglo American) bought £95,230 worth of shares at about 952p a time. Dr Grote, who joined Standard Chartered in July, also purchased £97,520 of shares at a higher price of 1,219p in September.
If you want to follow this director’s lead, Standard Chartered’s shares are still on offer at around 952p. That doesn’t look a bad price for a bank trading at a near 10% discount to tangible book value.
ASOS
Three profit warnings this year led to the shares of online fashion retailer ASOS falling from a high of over 7,000p in February to a low of 1,785p in mid-October.
ASOS released its final results on 21 October and also announced that chief financial officer Nick Beighton was to become chief operating officer with immediate effect. Also with immediate effect, Mr Beighton opened his wallet to add to his shareholding. He invested almost £500,000 at just a tad under 2,250p a share.
ASOS’s shares have continued to recover strongly from their mid-October low and now trade at 2,750p. The P/E today is over 60 compared with the 50 at which Mr Beighton bought. Still, directors were willing buyers at up to about 5,034p earlier this year!
Quindell
Quindell, controversial insurance technology and personal injury claims group, has also seen a precipitous fall in its shares this year, following the now-notorious attack by bear analysts Gotham City Research. Quindell’s shares currently trade at 130p (on a P/E of 2.3) — 80% below their pre-Gotham high of 660p.
Quindell directors have been buying in turn since the company released a third-quarter trading update on 13 October:
| Date | Director | No. shares bought | Price paid | Total cost |
| 14 October | Robert Burrow (non-exec) | 10,000 | 135.5p | £13,550 |
| 15 October | David Currie (non-exec) | 19,500 | 127.5p | £24,863 |
| 17 October | Robert Fielding (chief exec) | 17,707 | 141.1p | £24,985 |
| 29 October | Tim Scurry (exec management team) | 15,000 | 140.82p | £21,123 |
| 31 October | Robert Bright (non-exec) | 100,000 | 131.5p | £131,500 |
However, Quindell founder and chairman Rob Terry has yet to make a purchase, despite saying after the company’s half-year results in August: “Once I’m able to, if the price stays at this level I’ll be buying more”.
