Here are some ASX directors who sold shares recently and some of the intriguing reasons why

Here are some ASX directors who sold shares recently

Jack Gance – Sigma Healthcare (ASX:SIG) a.k.a. Chemist Warehouse

Jack Gance co-founded Chemist Warehouse which wanted to list on the ASX for several years, but ultimately took the plunge by a merger with Sigma Healthcare. It is not uncommon for founders to put their shares into ‘escrow‘ to show they are still committed (at least until shares exit escrow). Indeed Sigma told investors the escrow was entered into because the Gance and the others who put their share into escrow were,’ committed to the long-term value creation opportunities available to Sigma’.

On Thursday August 28, 558.1m Sigma shares were released from escrow, 157.9m of which belonged to Jack Gance and the rest belonged to his co-founders Sam Gance and Mario Verrocchi. Jack sold 155.1m at $3.10 per share, netting nearly half a billion dollars. No reason was given although he hired Macquarie to sell the shares in an off-market transaction. To be fair, Jack Gance still owns over 1.3bn shares which would be worth just over $4bn at today’s share price, and he is still a substantial shareholder.

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Mark Coulter – Temple And Webster (ASX:TPW)

TPW is an Australian furniture and homewares destination that has undergone substantial growth. In FY25, it made $600m revenue (up 20.7%) and it grew its profit from $1.8m to $11.3m. A few weeks ago, in mid-August, co-founder Mark Webster sold 1.6m shares (technically 1.2m shares he owned directly and 800,000 shares he owned indirectly, only counted as 400k). At $22.75 per share, this was worth over $36m.

Coulter retains 7.8m shares and outstanding options amounting to 83% of his holdings prior to the trade. He assured investors he had no intention to sell any more shares ‘in the mid-term’ and,’ remain[ed] fully committed to the leading Temple & Webster and executing our long-term strategy and options’.

David Ahmet – Motorcycle Holdings (ASX:MTO)

Motorcycle Holdings is a retailer and wholesale distributor of motorcycles, parts and accessories. The company had a record revenue and profit in FY25, not to mention record unit sales and investors have sent the share price more than doubling in CY25.

A week after these results, David Ahmet (who was CEO for 13 years prior to retiring last year while remaining on the board) sold ~$18m in shares across 2 transactions. He was joined by Michael Poynton who sold $14.4m and Peter Henley who sold $25k. The company told investors the sales were done,’ to facilitate the introduction of new institutional investors to the Company and to diversify their personal investments’. It also reminded investors Ahmet still had 8.89% and Poynton had 2.4%. Moreover, the pair remained committed to the company and had ‘no current intention to sell further shares’.

Jane Hastings – EVT (ASX:EVT)

EVT is the company behind Event Cinemas and other leisure assetts including golf courses, ski resorts and hotel chains including Rydges and QT. The company’s shares gained over 70% in the 12 months prior to the FY25 results, only to fall after the results. Even though there were some things to like in its results, it appears investors were spooked by things that impacted the results (i.e. Cyclone Alfred and the temporary closure of the Rydges Queenstown), but not enough to impact the result.

CEO Jane Hastings, who has been at the helm since 2017, sold 100,000 shares worth a cumulative $1.56m. Investors were told the sale was,’ to meet tax obligations arising from the exercise of previously vested Performance Rights and other personal financial obligations’. It appears they were sold to her colleague Alan Rydge as a 3Y Appendix lodged for him by the company shows he bought a parcel of 100,000 shares off market.

Chris Mentis – Harvey Norman (ASX:HVN)

Chris Mentis has been with the company since 1997, joining as a financial controller, and he has been on the board since 2007. He is also the CFO. Last week, he sold $1.8m in shares in an on-market trade. No reason was given, but the company reported a $753.1m profit the week prior, up 39% from the year before.

Matt Comyn – CBA (ASX:CBA)

Matt Comyn, the CEO of Australia’s largest bank, sold 8,763 shares – not a high number, but at $169.819781 this netted nearly $1.5m. He still has 30,783 shares owned directly and 45,477 held indirectly. With CBA paying $2.60 per shares as a final dividend and the ‘record date’ being September 29, he’ll be missing out on $22,783.80 in dividends, but will still get $80,035.8 directly while the shares ‘indirectly owned’ will be entitled to $118,240.20.