REA Holdings directors join in fundraising as palm oil prices bounce back

19th Oct 2015 16:09

(ShareCast News) - Two directors of palm oil plantation group REA Holdings have topped up their stakes in the company as part of a £4.4m fundraising.The pair bought at a price of 260p per share, with REA's share price having fallen from above 400p almost 12 months ago as the company's principal commodity, crude palm oil, has seen its price subject to a significant fall.At the time of interim results in August, the company said management was looking to respond to falling CPO prices with "various initiatives to refinance existing indebtedness and to raise additional equity to permit continuation of the group's planned extension planting programme". CPO prices have been boosted recently as the Indonesian government launched a fund to support its local palm oil industry and expectations of lower production due to the dry weather conditions brought on by the El Nino weather phenomenon.Emba Holdings Limited, a company linked to chairman Richard Robinow, purchased 353,920 shares for just over £0.9m.Director David Killick also purchased 10,000 shares on Friday for £26,575.Broker FinnCap in September cut its capex forecasts and assumed no dividend going forward, adding that while cash flow remained tight it was "too risky to recommend buying the shares until the CPO starts to meaningfully recover and/or there is a substantial injection of equity".Top Director BuysREA Holdings (RE.)Director name: Mr Richard M RobinowAmount purchased: 353,920 @ 260.00pValue: £920,192 Dunelm Group (DNLM)Director name: Mr Andy HarrisonAmount purchased: 53,433 @ 928.80pValue: £496,286 Sopheon (SPE)Director name: Mr Barry K MenceAmount purchased: 44,406 @ 84.75pValue: £37,634 REA Holdings (RE.)Director name: Mr David H R KillickAmount purchased: 10,000 @ 265.75pValue: £26,575 Seeing Machines Ltd. (SEE)Director name: Mr Terence Ronald (Terry) WintersAmount purchased: 260,310 @ 4.83pValue: £12,573 At the time of publication, there were no director sells.