Wives' club leaps on Nufarm

Nufarm's interim results had a nasty effect on the share price and who better than the chairman and managing director to enter the market and buy some shares?

Managing director Douglas Rathbone late last month unveiled higher earnings for the January half but accompanied the result with tidings of a lower result for the full year.

He said earnings before interest and tax of the crop protection group would come in between $180 million and $200 million, compared with $206 million for 2011-12.

The day before, the scrip was fetching $4.77 but fell to $3.95 as investors digested details of the report, which talked of improved offshore numbers and "extremely challenging" conditions on these shores.

The shares recovered just a little off those lows and Rathbone - or, more accurately, his wife - picked up 50,000 shares at $4.03 apiece.

Chairman Donald McGauchie's wife bought 15,000 shares at $4.05.

The wives' club is already ahead of the game - the scrip closed yesterday at $4.25.

Meanwhile, on the multi-director buying front, Troy Resources came under notice.

Late last month the gold producer announced an agreed paper takeover of Azimuth Resources, which directors said would create a South-American-focused gold producer.

Before it was announced, Troy shares were selling at $2.49 and have since dropped as low as $1.84.

Chairman David Dix, managing director Paul Benson and non-executive directors Frederick Grimwade and Robin Parish - more than half the board - bought shares.

Closing on Friday at $1.91, the scrip remains under what they paid.

Elsewhere, in an unusual transaction as far as price was concerned, Poh Choo Lim of Richfield International sold 22.5 million shares at 16.5 cents each, compared with a market price of 5.2 cents.

A Thailand-based group and a Singapore-based company have now surfaced with a total of 35 per cent of the capital in Richfield International.