Zambeef directors grab bigger stakes in beef producer

4th Jan 2016 16:35

(ShareCast News) - Ex-banker Adam Fleming has added further to his stake in Zambian beef producer Zambeef, where he is a non-executive director, splashing out £795,000 on shares.Fleming's Rhodora vehicle bought 10m shares in AIM-listed Zambeef at an average price of 7.95p apiece to take his stake up to 25.4m shares, around 10.2% of the company.Fellow NED John Rabb also dipped in, snapping up 2m shares at the same price.This follows a 6.2m-share purchase by former Harmony Gold chairman Fleming at the same price in late December, not long after the company announced the Zambia Revenue Authority was appealing the verdict of a November revenues appeal tribunal where Zambeef resolved a near-$4m tax assessment in the company's favour arising from its former subsidiary Zamanita, which was disposed of last year.Zambeef had made a full provision of roughly $9.7m in its accounts back in 2012.Full year results for 2015 in November highlighted good progress in the core businesses, though this is being masked by strong headwinds from FX and commodity prices.Broker FinnCap said it believed true like-for-like revenue growth was 15%, gross profit growth was 22% and EBIT growth was 60%."We expect this momentum will follow through into FY 2016 and we forecast 10% organic growth and some further improvement in EBIT margins and a return to modest free cash flow."Investors seemed to be of a similar sanguine opinion to Fleming and Finncap, helping force the shares up 10.25% to 9.25p on Monday.Top Director BuysZambeef Products (ZAM) Director name: Mr Adam FlemingAmount purchased: 10,000,000 @ 7.95p Value: £795,000Zambeef Products (ZAM) Director name: Mr John RabbAmount purchased: 2,000,000 @ 7.95p Value: £159,000John Laing Group (JLG) Director name: Mr Chris WaplesAmount purchased: 23,253 @ 207.49p Value: £48,248Africa Opportunity Fund Limited (AOF) Director name: Mr Francis DanielsAmount purchased: 50,000 @ $0.63 Value: $31,750Africa Opportunity Fund Limited (AOF) Director name: Mr Robert C KnappAmount purchased: 50,000 @ $0.63 Value: $31,750InterQuest Group (ITQ) Director name: Mr David BygraveAmount purchased: 12,500 @ 85.00p Value: £10,625