Every week the ASX queries several directors for not getting their share trading forms in on time.

This week, Cervantes (ASX:CVS) said an “‘information technology malfunction” inadvertently stopped its chairman’s notices for two trades in April, worth $105,000, from being “delivered to the intended recipients”.

Company secretary Pat O’Neill confirmed that it wasn’t human error (no one forgot to hit the ‘send’ button) and said an all-too powerful antivirus software got in the way — or a Telstra outage. Or something else.

Dotz Nano (ASX:DTZ) chairman Ashley Krongold had 544,946 performance shares cancelled after the ASX  turned a gimlet eye on the high-tech security provider.

On May 16, Dotz Nano said it had hit an IPO performance milestone of making and selling 20kg of nanodots within 18 months of listing, which meant the conversion of performance rights to shares.

By May 23, in an answer to an ASX query, it then admitted that it hadn’t hit that milestone — they’d mistaken the day the rights expired and had made the last minute 20kg sale a week late — and cancelled the rights conversion.

Bull at a gate

Stream Group (ASX:SGO) came out of a two-year suspension in January, and chairman Larry Case has been quick to buy shares.

The insurance claims services group was placed into voluntary administration in December 2015.

Mr Case, who inherited the problems only months before having to place the business into voluntary administration, spent the next two years selling off assets, to get the new slimmed down company back on track.

Over 10 trades, the last two of which were last week, Mr Case has bought $122,000 of shares. He owns 5.5 million shares in Stream.

It’s more than double the 2.2 million he sold in January — before giving the proceeds to charity — after Stream told investors in an ASX statement that related party listing rules had been breached.

Geoff Pearce watch

Melbourne entrepreneur Geoffrey Pearce has been on a $2.2 million spending spree at three companies this year — and he’s still buying.

Mr Pearce is a director of McPherson’s (ASX:MCP) and Cann Group (ASX:CAN) and has chaired Probiotec (ASX:PBP) since 2016.

This time it was just a small, $16,200 purchase of 200,000 shares in MacPherson’s.

Selling 

In 11 years Vita Group (ASX:VTG) chief executive Maxine Horne has only sold shares six times.

But last week the company founder sold two parcels of shares worth $502,000 on market.

The other two times Ms Horne has sold shares were in 2014 and 2016.

She still owns 19.4 per cent of Vita Group, but sold in a week where the company is trading at half of its 52-week high. The high is $1.93, it closed on Friday at 99c.

Buying and selling

Genesis Resources (ASX:GES) directors were cashing in and splashing out.

Chin Niap Mah sold all of his 16.8 million shares for $335,000; Kim Heng Lim bought 21.8 million 2c shares for $435,000; and Yau Young Lim spent a trifling $4650.

At Auris Minerals (ASX:AUR) and Reward Minerals (ASX:RWD) directors were buying and selling.

Auris’ Robert Martin bought 20.7 million shares for $1.2 million. He then sold 2 million shares for $200,000.

Reward Minerals’ Michael Ruane bought 1.88 million shares for $374,000 and sold 1.9 million for $367,000.

Buying

Specialty Fashion’s (ASX:SFH) Ashley Hardwick was back again. Two weeks ago she spent $408,420 on shares, and last week she topped up with another $250,000 buy-in. She now owns 20.7 of the retailer.

Gan Nyap Liou dug a bit deeper into Fatfish Internet Group (ASX:FFG), buying $250,000 of shares.

And lawyer Gary Steinepreis sank $315,000 into relisted Lachlan Star, as part of its recapitalisation effort to get back onto the market.

Featured Companies

You might be interested in