Halma and JD Sports: Big director share deals this week

No one knows a company quite as well as its directors, which is why it is worth keeping an eye on them buying and selling shares. 

We have combed through UK directors' deals and published the purchases and sales that caught our eye. Our table is compiled using company announcements and is not exhaustive.

Find out which company shares are being bought by their own directors this week and keep an eye on those which are being sold. 

Halma CFO-in-waiting buys shares

The US is FTSE 100 safety products conglomerate Halma’s (HLMA) biggest market, delivering almost half of the company’s total revenue. As the new Trump administration takes office amid concern about tariffs and global trade, the company is confident that its position across the Atlantic isn’t at risk.

Deputy head of investor relations Melanie Horton told analysts in November that “our companies are selling 90 per cent from the US into the US”. In reference to supply chains, she added that Halma is “sourcing components more locally” than comparable businesses.

In the company’s half-year results that same month, revenue came in north of £1bn and adjusted operating profit rose above £200mn for the first time. Its safety and environmental and analysis markets delivered double-digit growth, while healthcare performance was muted.

Annual guidance for “good” organic growth and an adjusted operating profit margin of around 21 per cent, slap bang in the middle of its 19-23 per cent target range, was maintained.

A new chief financial officer will take the reins from April when Carole Cran, an independent non-executive director who has been on the Halma board for almost a decade, replaces the retiring Steve Gunning. Cran bought £213,000-worth of shares on 13 January.

The company’s aim of doubling earnings every five years is underpinned by acquisitions. It has over 50 operating companies and disclosed in November that it had completed seven acquisitions so far in the current year, for a total of £158mn. Its strategy is to fund acquisitions through cash generation rather than debt.

Analysts at UBS pointed to an “attractive compounding ‘acquire and grow’ investment case” at the business.

Halma trades on 29 times forward consensus earnings. The shares have risen by almost 30 per cent over the last year but are still below the all-time high hit in January 2022. CA