Director Trades: Who’s been buying and selling (or only disclosing) this week?

There’s a saying which some people agree with “better late than never” – but the ASX do not. The first directors trade over $100,000 to catch Stockhead’s eye this week was Dacian Gold’s (ASX:DCN) director Barry Patterson who bought $979,615 on market.

Yet the trade actually occurred back on June 6 – missing the ASX’s deadline for reporting directors interests. Anticipating a “please explain” from the ASX, Dacian blamed “an inadvertent administrative oversight”.

But a more positive sign for Dacian was that Patterson bought only a day after the company cut production forecasts. Since then the company has made a high-grade gold discovery, although the share price has failed to recover.

Two other gold company directors made large purchases this week. One was Sihayo Gold (ASX:SIH) director Gavin Caudle who bought $3.3 million last Tuesday. This was underwriting a significant shortfall of shares – a rights issue raised only 15 per cent, and Sihayo had been looking to place the shortfall since April.

The other was Black Cat Syndicate’s (ASX:BC8) Paul Chapman who bought $110,000. The company will have a busy next quarter with survey results and an upgrade of resources anticipated.

Health & retail directors buy too

Three other directors bought over $100,000 in shares this week. Healthia (ASX:HLA) chairman Glen Richards, who is a career veterinarian and entrepreneur (having founded Greencross), bought nearly $300,000 on market.

Healthia is a holding company for several physiotherapy and podiatry brands including iOrthotics, DBS Medical, Extend Rehabilitation and MyFootDr.

The stock listed last September and currently sits at 78c – 22 per cent lower than its IPO price.

Director of Furniture retailer Adairs (ASX:ADH), Trent Petersen, bought $211,224 shares on market.

Earlier in June, Adairs slightly downgraded its financial year guidance but it still expects earnings around $43m. CEO Mark Ronan said, “A review of our FY19 performance shows that we have a healthy and growing business”.

A sell is a sell even if its your spouse or to receivers

Three directors sold over $100,000 in shares this week and their reasons for selling were no secret.

Alex Abrahams, director of dental stock Pacific Smiles Group (ASX:PSQ), told the company he had to “meet an unexpected near-term funding requirement” and the company signed off.

Despite selling $2.25m in shares, which were directly owned by his wife, he still owns over 20 per cent of the company.

Donaco International (ASX:DNA) directors Joey Lim Keong and Benjamin Lim Keong Hoe sold their shares to company receivers. Joey sold $7.1m while Benjamin sold $981,794.

For some weeks, shareholders were left worried about the potential impact on Donaco’s loan with Mega Bank — potentially they could have altered the agreement due to a “change of control” event.

Last week, the company told shareholders Mega Bank agreed not to do so. However, paying $US8.6m of principle not due for another few months cannot hurt.