New B&M CEO Jegen buys more than half a million pounds worth of shares

(Sharecast News) - B&M European Value Retail sparked on Tuesday after the discount retailer's new chief executive picked up more than half a million pounds worth of shares. Tjeerd Jegen, who took on the role of CEO on Monday, bought 197,900 shares for £523,559.60. The transactions were made between 10 and 13 June.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "B&M's new chief executive Tjeerd Jegen has aligned himself with shareholders' interests after spending more than half a million of pounds on shares in the value retailer.

"It sends a positive signal to the market that he's serious about turning the business around. Failure to do so would hurt his wallet as well as his reputation.

"Investors often take director share purchases to be a positive sign. Many large companies require CEOs to buy a minimum value of shares within a certain period after taking the top job, so they have skin in the game.

"B&M is no longer a FTSE 100 member so Jegen may not be forced to buy stock, yet the fact he's already done so in his first week has been taken positively by the market."

At 1010 BST, the shares were up 2.6% at 262.60p.