IG Design Group finance chief buys shares as turnaround effort advances

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IG Design Group share purchase

Highlights

Ari Bensoussan, IG Design Group's new CFO, bought 465,799 shares for £426,718 at 91.6p each, signaling management confidence during ongoing restructuring.
IG Design Group reported a 3 per cent sales decline and a 40 per cent drop in adjusted operating profit to £9.6 million in June, despite improved cash inflow of £16 million.
The company targets 0 to 5 per cent sales growth and 4 to 5 per cent adjusted operating margins as shares rise 65 per cent year-on-year but remain 34 per cent below three-year highs.

Leadership changes and insider backing

As reported by Financial Times, IG Design Group is trying to draw a line under its restructuring as new chief executive Gerald Kühr builds out a refreshed management team following the disposal of the lossmaking DG Americas unit for $1.

Kühr, a former Unilever executive who takes the top job in July, has brought in former Nestlé director Ari Bensoussan as chief financial officer last month. Bensoussan then moves quickly to signal confidence in the business, spending £426,718 on 465,799 shares at 91.6p each last week.

The purchase gives the new finance chief a direct stake in the outcome of the group’s revamp. It also adds a tangible sign of internal backing at a time when investors are looking for evidence that operational changes can translate into steadier growth and margin improvement.

Cash recovery offsets weaker sales

The company says the worst of the restructuring is behind it, although trading figures still show pressure on the underlying business. At its final results in June, sales slump 3 per cent and adjusted operating profit falls by two-fifths to £9.6 million.

Even so, cash from continuing operations delivers a £16 million inflow, a marked improvement from a £4.6 million outflow a year earlier. That balance-sheet repair follows a difficult year for the company, whose shares rise 65 per cent over the past 12 months but remain 34 per cent below their level of three years ago.

Management is sticking to relatively modest guidance, targeting sales growth of 0 to 5 per cent and adjusted operating margins of 4 to 5 per cent. For investors, the key question is whether the strengthened executive team and improved cash generation can support a more durable recovery in the gift-wrap manufacturer’s core operations.

Our earlier article on Equites Property Fund’s UK exit and South Africa redeployment explained how the REIT boosted its interim distribution after accelerating the disposal of UK assets, including the Aviva portfolio sale. We noted that the strategy helped lower leverage, reinforce liquidity, and position sale proceeds for reinvestment into South African logistics properties while maintaining FY27 guidance.

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