Directors across the UK property industry rushed to buy falling shares in their own companies following the Brexit vote.
The move is seen as a vote of confidence in the sector with the anticipation that stocks will rally. However, so far only three of the 13 biggest spenders have seen share prices rise since their purchases. The biggest losses came from those who bought shares on 24 June as prices kept falling on 27 June.
Danny Cox, chartered financial planner at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “If directors are buying shares in their own company, that’s a good indication that they feel positive about the future of their company. It’s suggesting that they think the share price is good value and they may believe it’s been oversold.”
The biggest buyers were in the residential sector.
Tony Pidgley, founder and chairman of Berkeley Group, bought nearly £800,000 of shares on 24 and 27 June, making more than £24,000 when prices rose again.
Greg Fitzgerald, chairman of Galliford Try, spent £694,527 on his firm’s shares when their price fell by 34%. The value of those shares had risen by £16,203 by 4 July before falling to £640,373 on 7 July – a loss of 7.8%.
Meanwhile, John Burns, chief executive of Derwent London, sold 45,000 shares in his company a day before the vote for £1,488,375. As of open on Thursday, those shares would have been worth £436,275.
Cox said: “I suspect that somebody selling shares the day before the referendum thought, ‘Just in case, if the referendum goes the wrong way, that’s likely going to affect our share price. I’m going to get a better price today than I will in two days’ time.’ That has proved the case.”
Here, Estates Gazette lists the companies in which directors spent the most on their own shares along with the biggest individual spenders in each firm, the value of the shares they bought at the time, and their value as of open on 7 July.
Berkeley Group
£986,034 spent by directors
Tony Pidgley, founder and chairman 35,061 shares, 27 June
Initial value: £795,534
Value on 7 July: £819,726
Change: 3%
Glyn Barker, non-executive director 2,000 shares, 24 June; 3,000 shares, 27 June
Initial value: £119,260
Value on 7 July: £116,900
Change: -2%
Veronica Wadley, non-executive director 1,000 shares, 29 June; 1,000 shares, 30 June
Initial value: £47,500
Value on 7 July: £46,760
Change: -1.6%
Galliford Try
£705,243 spent by director
Greg Fitzgerald, chairman 79,500 shares, 27 June
Initial value: £694,527
Value on 7 July: £640,373
Change: -7.8%
Savills
£462,710 spent by director
Michael Colacino, president 50,000 shares, 27 June
Initial value: £305,000
Value on 7 July: £277,250
Change: -9.1%
Nicholas Ferguson, chairman 15,000 shares, 27 June
Initial value: £88,099
Value on 7 July: £83,175
Change: -5.6%
Rupert Robson, independent non-executive director 7,981 shares, 24 June
Initial value: £49,730
Value on 7 July: £44,255
Change: -11%
CLS Holdings
£142,097 spent by director
Sten Mortstedt, executive chairman 5,736 shares, 27 June; 4,264 shares, 28 June
Initial value: £129,086
Value on 7 July: £117,500
Change: -9%
Derwent London
£256,345 spent by director
David Silverman, director 4,256 shares, 28 June
Initial value: £99,999
Value on 7 July: £102,144
Change: 2.1%
Damian Wisniewski, finance director 4,256 shares, 28 June
Initial value: £99,986
Value on 7 July: £102,144
Change: 2.2%
Simon Fraser, non-executive director 2,000 shares, 24 June
Initial value: £56,360
Value on 7 July: £48,000
Change: -14.8%
Kennedy Wilson
£92,552 spent by director
Simon Radford, independent non-executive director 9,200 shares, 24 June
Initial value: £92,552
Value on 7 July: £83,352
Change: -9.8%
Intu
£84,350 spent by director
John Whittaker, deputy chairman 23,971 shares, 28 June
Initial value: £63,852
Value on 7 July: £62,780
Change: -1.7%
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