Watches of Switzerland board members have loaded up on stock after the group’s share price fell by 25% last week.
The sell-off was triggered by the announcement that Rolex will be acquiring WoSG’s rival retailer Bucherer.
Board members Tea Colaianni, Ian Carter, Robert Moorhead and Anders Romberg, all bought significant volumes of WoSG shares yesterday.
An Annual General Meeting held on August 30 gave the green light for the company to make market purchases of its own shares.
The four directors filed a notice with the London Stock Exchange before the opening bell yesterday that they had bought shares with a total value of £890,000 at a price per share of around £5.90.
That prompted a mini rally in the stock, which opened yesterday at 610p and currently (Tuesday morning) is trading at 605p.
Watches of Switzerland Group’s share price had been sliding since a 52-week high of around 1000p in May as economic headwinds and continuing supply constraints trimmed growth prospects and even led to a small fall in year-on-year sales in the company’s most recent quarter (largely put down to a bulge in supply in the same quarter last year).
Rolex’s acquisition of Bucherer caused uncertainty among investors that the playing field could become unlevel when it comes to allocations of watches or opportunities to retain or open Rolex stores.
Watches of Switzerland directors buying their own stock will have been seen as a sign of confidence that the Bucherer acquisition will have little or no effect on its relationship with Rolex.
The luxury watch industry, led by the Swiss with competition from prestigious watchmakers in Japan and Germany, is having its best ever year.
Swiss watch exports have risen by almost 10% since the beginning of the year; building on last year’s record of CHF 25 billion.
