James Norris reviews directors buying and selling shares in their own company in his weekly column.

Conduit Holdings (LON: CRE) chief executive Trevor Carvey has bought 25,000 shares in five tranches at 315p, for an aggregated total of £78,650. Conduit, a newly established Bermuda-based holding company that, through its subsidiary Conduit Reinsurance Limited, provides reinsurance products and services to clients worldwide, released overall positive results in its interims yesterday, with revenues of US$210m beating forecasts by 8.2%. However, analysts are expecting a slowdown in revenue growth for this year, though not as much as its peers. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 307p, a return of -29.0% YTD and -38.8% over 12 months.

Alberta-based Touchstone Exploration (TSX, LSE: TXP) announced on 26 August that non-executive chairman John Wright sold 258,400 shares of the company over three days at C$1.55 per share on the Toronto Stock Exchange, for an aggregate total of C$400,520. The proceeds from the sale went to partially satisfy the costs and withholding taxes incurred from the exercise of his share option announced on 22 August 2022. Touchstone, which buys interests in petroleum and natural gas rights, is currently active in onshore properties in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Results for 2Q22 show production was 1,420 bbl/d and net debt at the end of June was US$23.7m. At close of trading on the London Stock Exchange yesterday, the stock was priced at 99p, a return of 9.9% YTD and 21.7% over 12 months.

AFC Energy (LON: AFC), the industrial fuel cell power company, announced on 26 August that chairman Gary Bullard bought 65,000 shares at an average price of 29.8p per share, for a total of £19,370. Last year’s highlights for the company include a £4m order from global technology group ABB, the collaboration with shipbuilder and designer Vard Engineering for a ship powered by ammonia fuel cells and the launch of a new 10kW hydrogen power generator called the ‘Power Tower’. AFC is also getting a lot of interest from construction companies battling stratospheric diesel prices and, in the UK, the ending of the red diesel subsidy. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 28.4p, a return of -42.3% YTD and -52.1% over 12 months.

Gary Bullard is also chairman at Gooch & Housego (LON: GHH), the specialist manufacturer of photonic components and systems. On the same day he bought shares in AFC, he bought 2,500 shares of Gooch & Housego at a price of £604 per share, for a total of £15,100. The acquisition follows another he made on 17 August, when he bought 8,349 shares at 655p for £54,686. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 595p, a return of -51.0% YTD and -57.8% over 12 months.

Metro Bank (LON: MTRO) non-executive director Nicholas Winsor has bought 50,000 shares at 82p, for £41,055. The bank, currently engaged in a two-year turnaround strategy launched after regulators discovered a major accounting error in 2019, has announced record revenue growth and a cut in pre-tax losses in the first quarter of this year, and is expecting to reach monthly breakeven by 1Q 2023. Since the beginning of 2019, the share price has lost 95% of its value, though rising interest rates should help the bank’s shares to recover some, if not all, their former value. At close of trading yesterday, the stock was priced at 82.9p, a return of -13.7% YTD and -19.0% over 12 months.

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Please note this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors are encouraged to do their own research beforehand or consult a professional advisor.

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