Directors Trades: This anti-snoring device maker needed capital to survive COVID-19; one director put in $3.7m

2020 was looking good for many companies but COVID-19 changed all that. Some have needed capital to keep going and one was sleep apnoea mouthguard maker Somnomed (ASX:SOM).

In February, the company reported solid revenue and operating profit growth and expected more was to come. But the COVID-19 lockdowns means snoring treatments will have to be put on hold because they are not urgent, unless it is somehow connected to the virus itself.

The company announced a $15.5m capital raise and director Hamish Corlett contributed $3.7m of the total. He is a money manager by trade and represents TDM Growth Partners which has been invested in Somnomed since 2010.

Surface chemistry and coating company Anteo Diagnostics (ASX:ADO) was another company to be rattling the fundraising tin. The campaign left it with $2.15m more in the bank and John Hamilton made up $154,622 of that.

Anteo said it considered this result to be an excellent outcome in light of the present market turbulance.

Micro-cap digital media stock AHAlife Holdings (ASX:AHL) launched a campaign at the end of February seeking $2.8m.

A month on, it had only raised $368,206 from shareholders. But directors Mike Everett and Arnaud Massenet put in $100,000 and $400,000 respectively.

Milan Jerkovic of Blackham Resources (ASX:BLK) put just over $300,000 into this WA-focused gold explorer. It managed to raise $52m all up — although half of this was from February.

Going on market

This time last year Splitit (ASX:SPT) was the hottest stock on the market – figuratively and literally. It listed at 20c in January and rose as high as $2 as the buy now, pay later sector took off.

But now analysts have raised concerns people will use them less and bad debts will rack up – this has led to share price drops in the various players.

But CEO Brad Paterson decided to sink a further $248,582 into Splitit.

Chairman of burns-focused biotech PolyNovo’s (ASX:PNV), David Williams, bought $154,000 worth of the company’s stock. PolyNovo’s sales actually rose in the March quarter, by 166 per cent.

On top of this, the company’s product reportedly did well in a CE Mark burn trial and PolyNovo secured a $9.3m credit facility.

Sellers

MedAdvisor’s (ASX:MDR) Josh Swinnerton sold 40 per cent of his shares to institutional investors – a $3.3m sale. The company said he had personal financial commitments to meet.

But the company reminded shareholders Swinnerton had not given up on MedAdvisor. In fact, he is moving to the US for the company’s sake.

Range International (ASX:RAN) has plunged 99 per cent since it’s 2016 listing. Founder Matt Darby sold all his shares this week and quit on the same day.

The company said he was moving from Indonesia to New Zealand and revealed he sold his holdings to existing shareholders.