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Morgan Sindall shares soared to an all-time high after publishing a strong trading update last month. It announced in the update that full-year results would be “significantly ahead” of its previous expectations.

That was driven by a surge in activity in its fit-out arm, which refurbishes offices and other buildings, while it also had improving outcomes within the construction, infrastructure and partnership housing units. 

Following the results, the company announced that Rosalind Morgan, wife of Morgan Sindall’s chief executive John Morgan, had sold 11,543 shares on October 24 for £1.1mn. Morgan Sindall said the sale was for tax planning purposes. 

The market saw a flurry of sales in the run-up to the election as people raced to get ahead of proposed tax changes. Investors’ Chronicle counted £28.7mn worth of £20,000-plus share sales in the run-up to the Budget. 

Morgan was joined by large sales at other contractors. A person closely associated with Leo Quinn, chief executive of Balfour Beatty, sold £1.4mn worth of shares. Meanwhile, relatives of two Galliford Try directors, Ian Jubb and Mark Baxter, sold £361,000 and £345,350 worth. Helen Willis, chief finance officer at Costain, disposed of £141,176 worth.

Balfour Beatty, which last reported results in August, posted a solid 37 per cent increase in pre-tax profits and a 9 per cent increase in its interim dividend. 

Galliford Try also announced strong end-of-year results in October, reporting a 206 per cent increase in pre-tax profits. The company announced share buybacks of £10mn and a 48 per cent increase in its ordinary dividend.

Foresight execs pare stakes

Foresight Group is a specialist asset manager focused on green infrastructure and private equity.

Its customers — which include both institutional and retail investors — gain access to hard-to-reach markets, and are poised to benefit from lucrative mega-trends. Bloomberg estimates that the world needs to invest $4.8tn (£3.7tn) a year in infrastructure to deliver net zero by 2050, for example, and investment in private assets is set to increase. 

Since Foresight listed in February 2021, however, its share price has struggled as tough market conditions have disrupted its long-term growth story. Big companies have attracted the lion’s share of fundraising, causing funds under management at Foresight to fall last financial year, and infrastructure has proved particularly unpopular due to higher base rates. 

With confidence now increasing again, members of Foresight’s management team have grabbed an opportunity to unlock some cash. Last month, head of infrastructure Ricardo Pineiro sold 220,000 shares for £4.90, or a total of £1.1mn. Co-head of private equity Matthew Smith followed suit, selling 47,684 shares for roughly £227,000. Fellow head of private equity James Livingston sold 92,000 shares for £440,000, and chief investment officer David Hughes also made a substantial gift of shares last month.. 

Foresight’s management team still has plenty of skin in the game, however, with executive chairman and co-founder Bernard Fairman retaining a 28 per cent stake, according to FactSet. 

Analysts argue that the group remains undervalued. According to broker Panmure Liberum, Foresight is significantly cheaper than its peer group — including Gresham House, which was bought by a private equity firm last year at a price/earnings multiple of 21 times. The broker thinks Foresight deserves to trade on a price/earnings multiple of 18 times, implying a hefty target price of 740p.