LONDON, June 30, 2026, 11:04 BST
- Heavitree ordinary shares rose 20.45% to 265p on 820 shares traded, about £2,000 of reported turnover.
- The limited-voting A shares were shown at 205p, leaving the voting line at a 29% premium.
- The company’s ordinary free float is far tighter: 74.18% of that class was not in public hands as of Jan. 15.
- Half-year operating profit fell 4.0%, but Heavitree kept its interim dividend at 2.75p.
The London session was open at the time of writing; London Stock Exchange trading hours run from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time on weekdays.
The Heavitree Brewery PLC (LON:HVT) rose sharply in late-morning London trade on Tuesday, but the data pointed to a thin-float price mark rather than a broad rerating of the Exeter-based pub estate. The ordinary shares were last shown at 265p, up 45p, or 20.45%, after 820 shares traded. ADVFN showed two recent trades, one for 440 shares and one for 380 shares, with reported trade values of £1,012 and £988.
Its A limited-voting shares (LON:HVTA) did not show the same move. AJ Bell showed the A line at 205p, unchanged, with a 180p bid and 230p offer. The latest trade listed on that page was 55 shares at 219p on June 29.
| Instrument | Latest displayed price | Change | Bid/offer | Latest volume shown | Read-through |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavitree ordinary shares (LON:HVT) | 265p | +20.45% | 250p / 280p | 820 shares | Price jump on about £2,000 traded |
| Heavitree A shares (LON:HVTA) | 205p | 0.0% | 180p / 230p | 55 shares, latest listed June 29 | Wider spread, no same-day follow-through |
| FTSE AIM All-Share | 772.73 | +0.34% | n/a | n/a | Heavitree ordinary line far outpaced AIM |
The comparison matters because Heavitree has two share classes and a small public float. The company says it has 1,844,699 ordinary shares and 3,182,478 A limited-voting ordinary shares in issue. As of Jan. 15, 74.18% of ordinary shares and 52.48% of A shares were not in public hands.
Based on those disclosures, only about 476,000 ordinary shares and 1.51 million A shares were in public hands. At Tuesday’s displayed prices, that puts the ordinary public float near £1.26 million and the A-share public float near £3.10 million. The ordinary shares carry 10 times the per-share voting power of the A shares, but Tuesday’s market price put the ordinary line only 29% above the A line.
| Share class | Shares in issue | Not in public hands | Implied public float | Vote terms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary 5p | 1,844,699 | 74.18% | about 476,000 shares | One vote per £1 nominal |
| A limited-voting ordinary 5p | 3,182,478 | 52.48% | about 1.51 million shares | One vote per £10 nominal |
For investors, the point is the float. Tuesday’s ordinary-share volume was only about 0.17% of the implied ordinary public float, yet it lifted the displayed price to the top of ADVFN’s one-year range for the stock.
The price action followed Heavitree’s June 25 interim results, the company’s latest regulatory news item shown on market-data pages. Revenue for the six months ended April 30 fell 1.5% to £3.465 million, while operating profit fell 4.0% to £503,000. Profit before tax dropped to £479,000 from £1.507 million a year earlier, as profit on disposals of property, plant and equipment fell to £2,000 from £1.047 million.
| Six months to April 30 | 2026 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £3.465 mln | £3.519 mln | -1.5% |
| Operating profit | £503,000 | £524,000 | -4.0% |
| Profit before tax | £479,000 | £1.507 mln | -68.2% |
| Basic EPS | 7.5p | 23.3p | -67.8% |
| Interim dividend | 2.75p | 2.75p | flat |
Chairman N.H.P. Tucker said trading “has not been helped” by the timing of Easter and a January storm, which cut tied product volumes. He also said the company was “ahead of budget” at the half year, with warm weather helping a “recovery in barrelage” at the start of the second half. TradingView
The company kept the interim dividend at 2.75p per ordinary and A ordinary share. The dividend is payable on July 31 to holders on the register on July 3; AJ Bell showed the same 2.75p amount and a July 2 ex-dividend date for both share classes.
