Carlsberg A/S’s chief executive officer bought shares for about $1.6 million just a few days into his new job, as he used to do at a previous CEO position where the frequent purchases often boosted the stock price.
(Bloomberg) — Carlsberg A/S’s chief executive officer bought shares for about $1.6 million just a few days into his new job, as he used to do at a previous CEO position where the frequent purchases often boosted the stock price.
Jacob Aarup-Andersen, who took the top job at the Danish brewery on Friday, purchased 11,000 shares in Tuesday’s trading on the Copenhagen stock exchange, according to a filing.
Aarup-Andersen often amassed shares in ISS A/S during his 2020-2023 CEO tenure at the cleaning giant. He even acquired 35,000 ISS shares on Aug. 18, a few weeks before his departure, bringing his ISS stake to about $4.2 million, and giving a lift to the stock price interpreted by the market as a vote of confidence.
Carlsberg shares outperformed Copenhagen’s OMX C25 benchmark index on Wednesday, trading little changed as of 10:15 a.m., compared with a 1.3% decline for the index.
“This purchase is a strong signal and it’s in contrast to his predecessor at Carlsberg, who rarely bought shares in the market during his eight years as CEO,” Per Hansen, an investment economist at Nordnet AB, said by phone.
Cees ‘t Hart, who retired as Carlsberg CEO last month, owned about 23,800 shares in the brewery, according to the latest filing, mainly awarded to him through various bonus or option plans.
At Carlsberg, Aarup-Andersen’s main job will be to find new areas of growth after the loss of the Russian business. He gained a reputation as a turnaround expert at ISS, and has past employment history from Danske Bank A/S.
When Aarup-Andersen announced his departure from ISS back in March, the stock fell while Carlsberg shares rallied.
(Adds share reaction in fourth paragraph, comment from economist in fifth)
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