Lee goes bargain hunting at Synthomer as yield adds attractions

15th Oct 2014 16:51

Director Lee Hau Hian has bought a further raft of shares in FTSE 250 chemicals company Synthomer, after its shares had fallen to a 12-month low in the wake of mixed interim results recently.Lee, who has been a director on and off since 1993, bought £131,606 at 189.5p and £57,772 at 189.1p.The shares, which had been as high as 291p earlier in the year, bounced from their low back above 192p on Wednesday.August interims confirmed that the company had seen challenging conditions in the Asian nitrile business, leading to sales declining 8.6% and operating profit by 8.8%, with currency headwinds also blowing.Encouragingly, Europe and North America continues to experience improved demand and firmer margins, leading the company to reiterate full year guidance that profit will be broadly in line with the prior year.Management also confirmed a more generous dividend policy, with cover coming down to 2.5 times from 3.0 times, which means the shares have a current year yield of close to 4% and a special dividend would also be considered if the group ends up with surplus cash, which broker N+1 Singer said was "likely" given the land disposal process in Malaysia.Gunn offloads at RotalaLate on Tuesday, AIM-listed local bus services provider Rotala notified that chairman John Gunn had sold almost £260,000-worth of shares in the company.City legend Gunn, infamous for the 1990 collapse of the then-FTSE 100-listed British & Commonwealth financial services company he had built up, sold Rotala's shares at 55p, roughly midway between their 12-month high and low.Interim numbers released in early August were solid, with sales down 2.2% in part due to the loss of National Expresswork for which the company has successfully challenged in the courts. Gross profit was up 2.2% and earnings up 4.0% thanks to strong cost controls.Top Director BuysSynthomer (SYNT) Director name: Mr Dato' Lee Hau HianAmount purchased: 69,449 @ 189.50p Value: £131,606Sinclair Is Pharma (SPH) Director name: Mr Chris SpoonerAmount purchased: 238,430 @ 26.25p Value: £62,588Synthomer (SYNT) Director name: Mr Dato' Lee Hau HianAmount purchased: 30,551 @ 189.10p Value: £57,772Ocado Group (OCDO) Director name: Mr David GrigsonAmount purchased: 20,000 @ 221.65p Value: £44,330Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) Director name: Ms Alison NimmoAmount purchased: 2,000 @ 2,098.00p Value: £41,960Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) Director name: Mr Robert JeensAmount purchased: 5,000 @ 493.12p Value: £24,656Quindell (QPP) Director name: Mr Robert Philip BurrowAmount purchased: 10,000 @ 135.50p Value: £13,550CLS Holdings (CLI) Director name: Mr H O Thomas LundqvistAmount purchased: 1,000 @ 1,310.00p Value: £13,100Top Director SellsRotala (ROL) Director name: Mr John GunnAmount sold: 471,794 @ 55.00p Value: £259,487Craneware (CRW) Director name: Mr Neil Philip Lanceley HeywoodAmount sold: 15,750 @ 502.50p Value: £79,144Fairpoint Group (FRP) Director name: Mr Christopher MoatAmount sold: 50,000 @ 135.50p Value: £67,750