Director Deeds: Light trade among heavy blackouts

Blackouts are sweeping through the ASX. Many directors have their hands tied as the companies they preside over prepare to report.

February marks the start of reporting season, and in the lead-up, many companies have enforced blackout periods that prevent directors from trading securities. A typical blackout period is the period between the close of a company’s financial books and its release of half-yearly or annual accounts to the market. Some companies will have blackouts for other occasions, and increasingly, some companies prefer to use trading windows instead.  

A series regular, Lev Mizikovsky, spent more of his dosh on Tamawood shares. Mizikovsky spent more than $70,000 on January 29, then $27,000 on February 1, and another $25,500 a few days later. Mizikovsky is the founder of the home building company. He has appeared in the last two Director Deeds columns, here and here, and several before that.

Now this is a stock that has started the new year on a tear, skyrocketing from 97c to $2.11 today. But it’s not expecting to hit $10 in two years if that’s what you’re thinking. Advance Nanotek is producing a natural mineral sunscreen, where the foundation is zinc, that provides broad spectrum protection against ultraviolet rays. Previously zinc-based sunscreens were white and gooey, but this one is clear, and doesn’t do any harm to reefs or oceans either. Managing director Geoff Acton put his fingers in the pot on February 8 when he spent $31,500 on Advance Nanotek, days after the company posted a three-fold profit increase. If Mizikovsky isn’t happy with Tamawood, at least there’s always Advance Nanotek. Mizikovsky's Politick is the majority owner of the zinc company, with nearly a 42 per cent stake, followed by Kearney Ethical at 8.23 per cent.The lion's share of Politick is tied up in Advance Nanotek, but Politick also has interests in Smiles Inclusive, Collection House and Lindsay Australia.

From ethical sunscreen to electric vehicles. Where buying outweighed selling in recent months, now, there’s more of an even split. European Lithium’s Tony Sage spent $140,000 towards the end of January. Sage owns around 2 per cent of the company, cementing his place firmly in the top 10 on the insider list, led by Cape Lambert Resources which holds around 12 per cent of outstanding shares. Sage is also a majority owner of Cape Lambert. At Piedmont Lithium, Ian Middlemas spent $210,000 on shares, Keith Phillips spent $82,500, and Jeff Armstrong spent $82,500. And to complete the resources round-up, among the goldies, Martin Reed at Saracen sold $50,100 worth (having last bought in September last year) and Peter Sullivan at Resolute bought $571,000 worth, alongside colleague John Welborn who spent nearly $50,000. Not a single Resolute director has sold since 2016.

Kip McGrath of Kip McGrath Education Centres let go of more than $36,000 worth of shares. McGrath, formerly a school teacher, founded the tutoring company in 1976 with her late husband Dug McGrath and still holds around 36 per cent of outstanding shares. Shares in Kip McGrath the company have not traded this high since 2007. The share price has been climbing steadily higher for almost three years. McGrath has not bought shares in the company since 2011.

Mark Smith bought more shares in Australian Pharmaceutical Industries when it was plummeting towards 52-week lows. Smith spent about $41,000 on the shares. Directors have not sold shares in the company for years, with Smith most recently having bought once this year, and twice last.