iSelect board scoops up stock

The slide in the share price of iSelect has seen most of the board step into the market with buying orders.

The provider of websites offering comparisons of health, life and car insurance, and various other products went public in June and its $1.85 shares promptly closed on the first day of listing at $1.56.

Since then, the scrip briefly made it up to the issue price but the bears won out and more recently it sold at $1.30.

Over the past week or so, five of the six-person board have bought stock, led by Damien Waller, executive chairman and co-founder, who spent about $245,000 at an average price of $1.39.

iSelect directors have spent about $370,000 in recent days; the company declined to comment on the buying.

iSelect was floated on a hefty multiple of 25 times earnings following compound growth in recent years of about 35 per cent.

At yesterday's closing price of $1.41, the shares are selling at about 19 times forecast earnings.

The overall scorecard registered $4.1 million to $20.1 million in favour of sellers.

Wesfarmers chief Richard Goyder and numbers man Terence Bowen sold scrip and did so, they said, to meet a tax liability associated with the 2010 incentive plan. Also on the tax front, Ron Weinberger, the chief at decontamination products group Nanosonics, said he had sold to fund a pressing tax liability arising from the exercise of options granted in 2007.

The shares were placed with three institutional buyers and 50,000 shares were bought by incoming chief executive, Michael Kavanagh.

Grant King, the chief at Origin Energy, peeled off some stock as did Challenger heavy, Brian Benari.

Among buyers, there was multi-director buying of Insurance Australia Group shares and also of Norton Gold.