Record high Imperial Sugar share prices have set off a six-week flurry of selling by the Sugar Land company’s directors and officers, and resulted in a notable sell-off by one of its largest shareholders.
The company’s stock price topped $28 per share at one point, and has been trading above $25 on and off over the past several days, buoyed by strong first-quarter earnings and a 20% dividend increase reported at the end of January. That represents the highest level the stock has reached since the company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001.
George J. Schultze, through Schultze Asset Management LLC, a major shareholder whose unsolicited buyout offer was rebuffed in September, has sold off more than a third of his Imperial holdings since February.
Schultze owned or controlled more than 1.5 million shares – or 14.41% of Imperial’s stock as of Dec. 31, but has sold off nearly 600,000 shares over the past few weeks, reducing his holdings to 924,962 shares, or 8.75% of the total.
Meanwhile, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Imperial’s largest shareholder, reported Wednesday it has increased its holdings, from 3,247,156 shares to 3,355,576 – or 31.63% of the company’s stock. The latest acquisition of shares included 68,556 that represented the final distribution to LBH as part of Imperial’s bankruptcy reorganization plan.
The Sugar Land company reported net income of $12 million, or $1.08 per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2005, compared with $6.5 million, or 59 cents per diluted share for the same quarter a year ago.
Net sales were $254 million, compared with $214.7 million a year ago. Gross margins as a percentage of sales rose to 12.7% for the current quarter, compared with 7.1% for the year-ago period.
Income from continuing operations was $11.1 million, including a $100,000 pre-tax loss on asset sales, compared to $4 million a year ago, which included about $5 million in pre-tax gains on asset sales, the company said.
Among company insiders who benefitted from selling shares over the past few weeks since the earnings announcement were: Chief Executvie Officer Robert Peiser, General Counsel William Schwer, Chief Financial Officer Hal P. Mechler, Chief Operating Officer Paul Durlacher, Senior Vice President of Human Resources Kay Hastings and Senior Vice President of Commodities Patrick D. Henneberry. Also, Board Chairman James Gaffney and directors Gaylord Coan, Yves-Andre Istel and Robert McLaughlin.
