Insider: IAG chiefs pocket millions from share sales

This airline’s share price has nearly doubled in under a year, which is good timing for top brass who’ve just sold stock. City writer Graeme Evans has the details on this and activity at another FTSE 100 company.

19th May 2025 07:56

by Graeme Evans from interactive investor

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Four executives of International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (LSE:IAG) have banked £4.4 million by selling shares at prices almost double where the British Airways owner traded last summer.

The quartet, including chief financial and sustainability officer Nicholas Cadbury, reduced their holdings following IAG’s forecast-beating first-quarter results.

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The update and unchanged full-year outlook eased City fears about the impact of tariffs and economic turbulence on demand, particularly on North Atlantic routes that accounted for almost a third of the company’s average seat kilometres in 2024.

Chief executive Luis Gallego told investors: “We continue to see resilient demand for air travel across all our markets, particularly in the premium cabins and despite the macroeconomic uncertainty.”

Shares closed last week at 323.1p, representing a sharp recovery from the 224p seen at the height of the wider stock market sell-off in early April and 290p prior to the results.

Cadbury sold £1.6 million of IAG shares at 318.5p on Wednesday, while Aer Lingus boss Lynne Embleton raised £2 million at 296.9p in the hours after the update.

Chief information officer Jorge Saco generated £148,000 and IAG Loyalty boss Adam Daniels £621,600 by selling shares at 296p.

All four serve on IAG’s management committee rather than the main board.

The disposals were disclosed during another strong week for shares, which have surged from last June’s 160p thanks to the group’s dominant performance on long-haul routes, its sector-leading margins and impact of lower fuel costs.

Shareholders will next month receive their first full-year dividend since 2019, with the payment of six euro cents part of a total distribution of 435 million euros for 2024.

Bank of America last week highlighted IAG as one of its 25 stocks for 2025, with a price target of 420p. It said: “Amid demand concerns, we especially like IAG's high margins, cash conversion and strong balance sheet.”

Peel Hunt left its price target unchanged at 420p while Deutsche Bank moved from 370p to 385p after highlighting a number of recent positive developments.

These included the UK-US trade deal and the 13% passenger unit revenues growth on North Atlantic routes in the first quarter, which compared with its forecast of 4.5%.

A recovery trade

The 25% bounce for Informa (LSE:INF) shares since their mid-April low has failed to put off one of its non-executive directors from making an investment worth £48,000.

Maria Kyriacou, who has held senior broadcast and production roles at ITV and Paramount Global, purchased shares in the global trade shows and academic publisher at 803.8p.

The FTSE 100 stock traded at an all-time high of 900p in mid-February, but then fell as far as 640p due to worries about how tariffs and economic uncertainty will impact growth and visibility for subscriptions, recurring revenues and forward bookings.

A first-quarter update on 1 May provided reassurance, with the company reiterating that it expects underlying revenues growth of more than 5% this year as it continues to target faster growing markets and geographies.

It also remains on track for double-digit adjusted earnings growth amid strong performances in business-to-business events and by its Taylor & Francis academic markets division.

Informa also has the first full-year contribution of events-led FTSE 250 acquisition Ascential, which is the home of the Cannes Lions and Money20/20, and majority ownership of Nasdaq-listed business growth accelerator Informa TechTarget.

And it has continued its strong record of expansion in the Middle East by recently unveiling a strategic partnership with Dubai World Trade Centre.

In a note published after the first-quarter update, Deutsche Bank reiterated its Buy recommendation with a slightly lower price target of 1,000p.

It said a well-diversified portfolio by region and industry end market gave confidence that recent market concerns look overstated.

The bank said: “Tariffs might affect end markets on a second order basis, but Informa is less skewed to threatened industries in our view and trade events are key to selling products and securing supply chain relationships.”

Having resumed dividends in 2022, Informa increased the total for 2024 by 11.1% to 20p a share. This includes plans for the payment of 13.6p a share on 11 July, which will mean Informa has returned more than £675 million in relation to 2024.

Last week’s first purchase of Informa shares by Kyriacou follows £75,000 of boardroom support in the wake of the annual results, including a £20,000 investment by chair John Rishton.

These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.

Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.

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