Builder and his wife set to rake in millions after oil firm they invested in said it is to start handing out dividends
A builder and his wife could rake in millions from dividends after a North Sea oil company said it would start handing cash back to shareholders.
David and Debbie Hardy own an almost 11 per cent stake in Serica Energy worth £39million – making them the firm’s second largest shareholder.
AIM-listed Serica said it will announce its maiden dividend when it releases full-year results in April.
David and Debbie Hardy own an almost 11 per cent stake in Serica Energy worth £39million – making them the firm’s second largest shareholder
It follows a ‘strong’ year in which it paid off its remaining debts to BP, after it bought the oil major’s stake in three North Sea sites in 2018, and the amount of oil produced rose 13 per cent to around 30,000 barrels a day.
It is understood that 69-year-old Mr Hardy, the director of a small construction company in the Midlands, originally backed Serica in 2014 on the basis of the management team’s track record.
The couple took their holdings above 3 per cent in April 2015 when Serica’s shares were around 4p each and then above 9 per cent in July 2016 when the stock was about 13p.
Last night Serica’s shares jumped 12 per cent, or 15.4p, to 138p – meaning they have increased by more than 3,000 per cent since the Hardys started backing them.