18th Apr 2016 16:20
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of director dealings reported in London on Monday.
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Northbridge Industrial Services completed share placings to raise GBP4.5 million, with a further GBP1.1 million to be raised through an underwritten open offer with existing shareholders, in a fundraising backed by its board of directors.
A total of 6.0 million shares were issued at 75 pence per share in the placings, of which 1.8 million were placed firm and a further placed subject to shareholder approval. The stock was down 8.4% at 77.85p on Monday afternoon in London.
Together with the underwritten open offer, the placing shares equate to a 23% stake in the company's new total number of shares.
"It has been a tough period for all companies with exposure to the oil market but we believe that our strengthened balance sheet, coupled with our swift and strategic response to market volatility, will lead to a refocussed and robust Northbridge going forward," Chief Executive Officer Eric Hook said in a statement.
The CEO's comments came as the industrial services and rental company said Monday it swung to GBP8.6 million pretax loss in 2015, having recorded a GBP6.3 million pretax profit a year earlier, citing a downturn in spending by oil and gas companies amid depressed oil prices.
Hook was one of several directors to back the fundraising, acquiring 106,668 placing shares and looking to take up 39,999 shares in the open offer. His stake in the company will fall to 2.5% from 2.7%. In total, directors subscribed for 1.1 million new shares in the placing and will seek to take up their basic entitlement in the open offer. That would see them invest about 1.4 million in Northbridge shares.
Chairman Peter Harris plans to take up 97,600 shares under the offer on top of 259,875 shares in the placing, reducing his shareholding to 6.1% from 6.6%.
Ian Gardner, a non-executive director, will retain a 0.1% stake in Northbridge, taking up 12,008 placing shares and 1,325 under the open offer.
His fellow non-executive Ash Mehta will see his shareholding rise to 0.7% from 0.5%, taking up 7,757 open offer shares and 78,910 placing shares.
Michael Dodson, another non-executive, will increase his stake to 0.8% from 0.4%, taking up 6,060 open offer shares and 118,940 in the placing.
Western Selection, chaired by non-executive David Marshall, will see its stake fall to 12.4% from 13.6%, as the shareholder takes up 200,000 shares in the open offer and 523,632 in the placing.
Their resulting stakes are based on full take-up of the open offer by shareholders.
The stock closed down 8.4% at 77.85p Monday.
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Essentra said its incoming chairman, Paul Lester, acquired his first shares in the plastics and fibre manufacturer.
Karen Lester, a connected person to Paul Lester, bought 7,500 shares at 822.5p each on Monday, which is Paul Lester's entire shareholding.
Lester is also the chairman of John Laing Infrastructure Fund, the FTSE 250-listed infrastructure investment company, and of Greenergy, the privately-owned petrol and fuel distribution group. In December, Essentra said incumbent Chairman Jeff Harris will retire after a decade with the company, upon Essentra's annual general meeting on April 20.
The stock closed up 0.1% at 825.00p
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WH Smith said Chief Executive Officer Stephen Clarke sold 42,812 shares at 1735.99p each on Monday. The sale leaves him with 290,064 shares, equal to a 0.25% stake in the books and stationary retailer. The stock closed down 1.2% at 1,726.00p Monday.
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Drax Group said Pete Madden, president and chief executive of its Biomass subsidiary, bought 100,000 shares at USD4.3405 each last Wednesday. The purchase is Madden's only holding in the power generator. The stock closed down 0.4% at 300.20p Monday.
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PureCircle said Chin Yoong Foo, its vice-president for finance operations, sold 41,300 shares at a price of 380.00p per share last Thursday and Friday. Following the sale, Chin's beneficial shareholding is 25,000 shares. Shares in the stevia ingredients producer were down 0.3% at 380.00p Monday.
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MySale Group said Chairman Iain McDonald bought 100,000 shares at a price of 50.9915p per share on Friday. Following the purchase, McDonald now holds 248,482 shares, which equals a 0.16% stake in the online retailer. The stock closed down 0.1% at 53.47p Monday.
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Morgan Advanced Materials said its new Chief Financial Officer Peter Turner bought his first shares in the ceramic materials maker. Turner, who was appointed last month, bought 40,000 shares at 218.6252p per share Monday, which is his only holding. Turner is the former finance director of engineer Smiths Group, having left that role in 2015. The stock closed up 0.1% at 220.90p Monday.
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Cenkos Securities said two of its directors bought a total of 20,000 shares. Chief Executive Officer Jim Durkin and Paul Hodges, a director, each bought 10,000 shares at 145.0p each on Friday. Following the purchases, Durkin now holds 5.0 million and Hodges holds 5.1 million shares, which equals a 8.77% and 8.98% stake in the group respectively. The stock closed flat at 145.00p Friday.
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Concurrent Technologies said Managing Director Glen Fawcett bought 7,303 shares at 70.375 pence per share on Monday. The purchase takes Fawcett's total holding to 1.7 million shares, representing 2.3% stake in the computer components maker. The stock closed up 3.6% at 72.00p Monday.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]; @ArvindBhunjun
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