The news of Green’s sale of 1.33m shares came yesterday evening in a London Stock Exchange announcement, which noted that, through his nominees International Financial Options and SBS Nominees, Green retains a 20.68% stake in the company.
As reported, Green boosted his stake in STM to 24% on 9 March, 2012, in a £1.59m purchase of new shares. At the time he made that purchase, the stock stood at 19.5p a share. Last night it closed at 27p, unchanged from the previous close, and 38.5% higher than it was 17 months ago.
Green said the just-announced sale of the small stake of his STM holding was part of a wider, longer-term strategy.
“I acquired an additional 14% stake of the STM Group in April 2012 primarily as a family investment but also in order to provide the extra resources required so that this market-leading firm could further develop its range of QROPS and other wealth management products, to the advantage of the increasing number of deVere clients who are transferring their pensions to Malta,” he added.
“With the [STM] product suite developed, costs reduced and efficiency increased, all of which benefit both the client and the adviser, I feel that the objectives of last year’s acquisition of additional shares have now been fulfilled; and as any experienced investor, I’m now keen to seek out new, sound investment opportunities.”
Green said STM Group remains “an organisation with enormous potential, but my main focus is, and always has been, the deVere Group”.
STM Group is based in Gibraltar and incorporated in the Isle of Man. Last year it saw its after-tax loss widen, after it took a one-off amortisation hit of £4.4m, on revenue that grew by almost a fifth.
Pre-EBITDA earnings touched £1m, up from £700,000 the previous year, on revenue that rose by 18%.
The £4.4m charge resulted from required amortisations of intangible assets from a number of businesses that the company acquired some years back.
Earlier this month, David Erhardt, a key executive for the past seven years with STM, joined Harbour Pensions Malta as an adviser to its board.
