London, June 11, 2026, 15:03 BST
- Greencore shares gained 0.79% to 203.00p after the chair bought a large stake, the company said.
- The stock is still trading near its June 3 low, with focus staying on whether the Bakkavor buyout will bring the expected savings.
- Greencore’s next hard catalyst is its Q3 trading update, set for July 22.
Greencore Group Plc shares traded higher Thursday after non-executive chair Leslie Van de Walle and a related party picked up 125,000 shares at £1.949, totaling £243,625. The purchase was disclosed in a filing on Wednesday. As of 15:03 London time, shares stood at 203.00p, up 0.79%. The session range was 200.00p to 204.83p.
Greencore’s purchase stands out as the company tries to shore up faith in the shares after a rough stretch. Investors Chronicle data pegged the stock at 203.00p just before 15:00, only 6.23% above the June 3 year low of 191.10p and far from the February high of 307.50p.
A PDMR notification filed for “LESLIE VAN DE WALLE AND Domitille marie Renée van de walle” disclosed an insider trade done in London on June 9. The market defines PDMR as people in top management and others closely linked whose trades are reportable. Investegate
Institutional flows went the other way too. BlackRock told Greencore its stake dropped below the 5% disclosure threshold on June 9. Before that, BlackRock held 4.58% of the voting rights and 0.43% through financial instruments, totaling 5.01%. A move through a threshold doesn’t fully account for share price changes, but it’s part of the story: while one insider bought, a big holder slipped under the reporting level.
BlackRock told Greencore two days back that its stake tipped over 5%, with 5.02% of voting rights, or 40,361,271 voting rights. The fast switch around that level points to a portfolio adjustment, not a strong directional trade. That puts the chair’s stock buy in focus as a clearer sign for investors today.
Bakkavor is still the main story. Greencore closed its acquisition on January 16, and the company called the enlarged group the UK’s top maker of fresh convenience foods in its first-half release. Pro forma figures, which adjust results as if the companies were together the whole time, showed UK revenue up 3.2% to £1.318 billion and pro forma adjusted operating profit up 15.3% to £73.3 million. Adjusted operating profit leaves out one-offs and other items to reflect underlying trading.
Chief executive Dalton Philips said the integration is “progressing well and to plan” and Greencore is “firmly on track” to hit at least £80 million in yearly cost synergies in three years. Those synergies are the savings or benefits from combining things like procurement, manufacturing and overhead. Investegate
A £244,000 insider purchase gets a second look. The shares aren’t just moving on sandwich volumes or next week’s grocery trends now. Greencore’s bigger bet hangs on making the Bakkavor deal pay—improving margins and not letting debt or integration costs eat the benefits.
Greencore posted negative free cash flow of £76.0 million for the first half, compared to a positive £37.8 million a year ago. The company said this reversal was due to working-capital timing and exceptional costs from the Bakkavor acquisition and integration. Free cash flow is what’s left after operations and required investment.
Debt has made the stock more sensitive. Net debt, excluding lease liabilities, was £817.6 million. The leverage ratio rose to 2.3 times from 0.8 times a year ago. Here, leverage compares adjusted net debt to adjusted EBITDA—profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
Greencore swung to a pre-tax loss of £33.3 million for the half after a profit of £26.7 million a year ago. The loss was mostly tied to costs from Bakkavor transactions, amortisation from deals, and higher interest. Exceptional charges reached £75.3 million before tax, including £60.6 million for acquisition and integration.
The company is looking to sell the US business it got from Bakkavor, now marked as held for sale. That could make the group simpler and support the balance sheet. Still, investors have no details yet on the price, timing or whether a deal will go through.
Greencore is sticking with its current profit outlook for the year. The company said FY26 adjusted operating profit should match market expectations, which Greencore puts at a mean of £232 million, or between £227 million and £241 million. That number includes about £10 million from the US business and is based on nine analyst estimates.
Greencore’s Q3 update on July 22 is straight to the point. The company has to show solid trading, new business in the second half, and that Bakkavor savings are ahead of rising cash costs, debt and inflation. Shares are still near their lows.
