Insider: directors pump cash into this ‘exciting growth story’

Former takeover target Oxford BioMedica (LSE:OXB) has been given £102,000 of boardroom support after the FTSE 250 shares traded more than 40% below their level in January.

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Wednesday's dealings by chair Roch Doliveux took place at 505p, which compares with their four-year high above 900p when the cell and gene therapy firm was the subject of private equity bid interest.

EQT walked away in February after failing with four unsolicited approaches before OXB cut guidance in August in a move that contributed to shares falling as low as 424p earlier this month.

OXB said the revised expectations were due to short-term changes in client ordering behaviour, adding in Tuesday's interim results that its medium and long-term ambitions were unchanged.

These include annual revenues of £500 million by 2030, up from the updated forecast of £180-200 million for 2026, as the company focuses on the roll-out of its strategy as a pure-play contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO).

It recently expanded its footprint through the acquisition of a commercial-scale viral vector manufacturing facility in Durham, North Carolina, which will allow OXB to support late-stage client programmes and commercial launches directly from North America.

The site is now operational and serving clients, having suffered a six-month delay.

As revenues scale, operational leverage and cost discipline are expected to support the path to a longer-term margin target approaching 30%. This ambition compares with a mid-single digit percentage in the current year and forecasts for a double-digit figure in 2027.

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The August downgrade was later compounded by OXB customers Novartis and Bristol Myers Squibb pausing enrolment of some autoimmune programmes due to safety issues. The disclosure left OXB shares 18% lower, even though it had no known direct involvement.

Broker Peel Hunt said recently: “The reaction is overdone. OXB is the miller; how bakeries use the flour is up to them.”

The City firm cut its price target from 846p to 778p but said after last week's half-year results that “we still see an exciting growth story”.

Deutsche Numis said the post-results call with management highlighted a more constructive tone on demand, order conversion and progress with the Durham site.

“However, we still seek evidence that recent improvements can translate into stronger backlog progression, revenue conversion and 2027 visibility before becoming more constructive. We retain our Hold rating.”

The shares peaked at more than 1,500p in October 2021 after OXB secured a manufacturing deal that led to the production of 100 million doses of the Oxford–AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

Two subdued years followed before investment in cell and gene therapy rebounded in 2024 as venture capital and private equity firms renewed their focus on the sector, drawn by promising therapeutic breakthroughs and expanding commercialisation prospects.

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Launched in 1995 as a research-based spin-out from the University of Oxford, OXB is now focused on the manufacture of viral vectors within the cell and gene therapy industry.

Viral vectors are the tools commonly based on viruses used by molecular biologists to deliver genetic material into cells. OXB's proprietary lentiviral vector platform enabled the clinical use of Kymriah, a breakthrough cancer therapy developed by Novartis.

Since becoming chair in 2020, Dr Doliveux has built up a shareholding worth £2.3 million. A previous purchase took place in August 2025, when he spent £300,000 at a price of 449.7p.

Overseas investors dominate OXB's shareholding register, led by US-based Briarwood Chase Management with 15.4% and Novo Holdings, which is the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk, with 11.1%. M&G is the fifth largest overall and biggest UK investor with 5.7%.

Backing for 'bigger, better and bolder'

Stake building by Dunelm Group (LSE:DNLM) directors has reached £200,000 in the past month after CEO Clo Moriarty tied £61,700 of her own money to the success of a strategy reset.

Her three-year plan to create a “bigger, better and bolder” Dunelm is focused on store space expansion as well as refits, renewals and range optimisation.

Moriarty said this month: “We are not changing the fundamentals of Dunelm - we are building on them with greater ambition.”

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The initiatives will be funded through cash generation and the removal of £100 million of “unproductive” costs.

However, shares fell by as much as 18% to 730p as City analysts said the redeployment of free cash growth would likely mean no special dividend during the investment phase.

A special dividend of 25p a share was paid in April, following 35p in the previous two years.

Moriarty last week bought the FTSE 250-listed shares at a price of 792.7p before non-executive Katharine Poulter disclosed dealings worth £19,500 at 783.4p on Thursday.

Their moves followed a £25,000 investment by non-executive Ajay Kavan at 753p on 14 September, as well as dealings totalling £92,000 by chair Alison Brittain and senior independent director Ian Bull earlier this month.

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House broker Peel Hunt, which has a price target of 1,086p, noted that the shares were trading on a price multiple of 10 times earnings with a dividend yield of 6%.

The City firm said the strategy update was a statement of ambition, with the target of reinvigorating the rate of sales growth and to close the door on competitors.

It added: “Critically, this is not a recovery story. Dunelm resonates strongly across a broad universe of customers. This is about driving share of wallet and improving how Dunelm comes to market across all channels.”