The Insider: City deals uncovered

Massive windfall for ASOS chief

ASOS has done well since October. We heard this month that retail sales surged by 15% in the six weeks to 9 January, driven by 27% growth in UK sales. Price cuts also caused a rebound in international operations at the online fashion retailer, with sales down 2% for the quarter but up 5% over Christmas.

And anticipation of an improving trend has been factored into the share price since October during which time they have surged by about 49%. That rally from 1,862p has not been lost on chief executive Nick Robertson. Fifteen years after setting up ASOS he's just sold 744,600 shares at 2,716p each.

That's pocketed the former ad man a cool £20 million. But even now Robertson owns another seven million shares, or 8.39% of the company, worth about £180 million.

It's a period of heavy investment both in price cuts and technology at ASOS. However, guidance for the full-year in terms of both sales and operating profit margin remains unchanged. We'll hear more when the firm publishes it second-quarter update on 12 March 2015.

Too much subtracted from Telecom Plus

Telecom Plus has been growing steadily for a number of years. Its share price has risen rapidly, too, culminating in a peak at 1,900p a year ago. But despite decent numbers, shares in the reseller of combined telecoms and utility services have fallen since and languish at a 21-month low.

Yes, unseasonably warm weather has affected energy consumption by domestic customers, slowing half-year revenue growth. But margins have increased more than expected and a deal with Npower is improving profitability per customer.

Clearly, management thinks the sell-off has gone far enough. Telecom Plus founder and now chairman Charles Wigoder, non-executive deputy chairman Julian Schild and non-executive director Melvin Lawson have just bought 25,000 shares each at 985p. That's almost three-quarters-of-a-million pounds of stock.

Wigoder now owns 20% of the business and, after leaping over 8% since the purchase just days ago, that stake is worth over £170 million. Schild now owns 158,682 shares and Lawson over 2 million.

Is this money well spent? Well, the shares certainly do look cheap. At 1,065p they trade on 16.5 times earnings forecasts for the year to March. But with profits set to grow by 19% over the next 12 months, that multiple drops to less than 14 for 2016.

Andrew Darley, an analyst at finnCap, reckons the shares will be worth 1,880p.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.