Four senior executives at Glenveagh Properties, the Dublin-listed housebuilder, have made a combined gain of almost €1.08 million within the past week by exercising share options arising from a long-term incentive plan and then selling the stock on the open market.
The executives, including chief strategy officer Conor Murtagh, director of planning and manufacturing Tony McCarthy, chief commercial officer Wesley Rothwell and company secretary Chloe McCarthy, have benefited from a rally by Glenveagh’s shares so far this year following a sell-off in 2022.
They spent a total of €1,090 acquiring the shares at a strike price of 0.1c each, according to stock exchange filings. The executives raised almost €1.08 million from subsequently disposing of the stock.
“These are personal financial matters for the individual employees,” a spokesman said in response to questions from The Irish Times about the transactions.
Shares in Glenveagh slumped more than 30 per cent last year, amid investor concerns about the outlook for the sector globally at a time when interest rates and construction costs were rising. Glenveagh shares were hit afresh at the start of January when the company, led by chief executive Stephen Garvey, downgraded its suburban house completions forecast, citing “near-term gridlock” in the planning system.
However, the shares have since rallied 25 per cent from their January lows to €1.01, aided by improved stock market sentiment generally and Glenveagh launching a programme to buy back 10 per cent of its stock.
Glenveagh’s main rival, Cairn Homes, said last week that it expects Irish home prices to be “flat” this year as rising interest rates raise questions about affordability for would-be property buyers.
Home prices rose 7.8 per cent nationally last year, according to the Central Statistics Office. However, the pace of growth weakened as the year progressed from property inflation running at an annual rate of just over 15 per cent last March.
Mr Garvey said last week that Glenveagh was “capable of building many more new homes if the Government matches its ambitions on much-needed planning reform with the decisive and meaningful action that Ireland’s accommodation crisis warrants”.
