Insider: Lloyds Banking, Speedy Hire, Computacenter

Loading up on Lloyds

Simon Henry has just celebrated one year at Lloyds Banking Group by treating himself to 100,000 shares in the resurgent high street bank.

Finance boss at Royal Dutch Shell since 2009 and on the payroll there since leaving Cambridge Uni in 1982, Henry joined the Lloyds board as a non-executive director in June last year.

Then, Lloyds shares were trading at about 76p. Henry had to pay 85.46p, costing him an extra £9,500. However, if analysts at rival HSBC are right he could be quids in. Early last month, they upgraded Lloyds to 'buy' from 'hold' and tipped the shares to hit 103p.

Buyer of Speedy Hire

A turnaround in fortunes at tool rental firm Speedy Hire was dramatic. Less than two months after beating full-year profit forecasts, the company has warned that this year will be much worse.

It's largely down to management failings - a lack of available equipment, ignoring SME customers, and poor customer service - were all avoidable. That's why chief executive Mark Rogerson fell on his sword just 17 months into the job.

Of course, forecasts have been slashed, but the remaining directors clearly think a 35% slump in the share price was overdone. Within hours, new finance director and now acting CEO Russell Down bought his first shares, spending £38,320 on 80,000 at 47.9p. Chairman Jan Åstrand paid 47.5p each for 150,000 at a cost of £71,250. He now owns 350,000 in all. A day later, non-executive director James Morley took a £15k punt on recovery, adding 30,000 shares to the 165,000 already owned at just under 52p.

As we reported yesterday, net asset value (NAV) of about 45p has provided a level of support. Now, the rebuilding process - which last time took two years - begins again.

Stakebuilding at Computacenter

Computacenter shares currently sit near a 15-year high. Not since the dotcom bubble burst in 2000 have they cost so much. But management are a confident bunch, and have been beefing up their stakes in the IT business.

Late last month, Lieven Bergmans, who runs Computacenter's Benelux business, bought 4,000 shares through his investment vehicle Collis BVBA. He paid an average price of 728.5p a share. Then, non-executive director Philip Yea acquired 8,000 at 741.35p, and fellow non-exec Minnow Powell 1,340 at 740p.

That was the cue for chairman Greg Lock to pile in. This week he spent almost £500,000 on shares in the company - 22,500 at 767.56p on Monday and 41,500 a day later at 768.8p. Lock now owns nearly 391,000 shares worth £3 million.

Certainly, the shares do not appear expensive. Computacenter trades on just 16 times forward earnings, and a more modest 14 times if you strip out estimated year-end net cash of £101 million. Broker Panmure Gordon reckons they're worth 787p and Investec Securities 800p.

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.