The chairman of housebuilder Redrow has sold off part of his stake in the company he founded, spooking investors that he could be calling the top of the market, and sending its share price down more than 8pc. Steve Morgan, who last week announced that he would "ease back" from his executive role this year, sold around a fifth of his 40pc stake in the business. That represents roughly 7pc of the total share capital; he still owns more than a third of Redrow's shares. It comes a week after the founder and chairman of Berkeley Homes, Tony Pidgley, sold 750,000 shares in the housebuilder, pocketing £26.8m. Despite this selloff he remains the fourth-largest shareholder in the housebuilder. Analysts at Jefferies said that he "still has a lot of skin in the game".
UK investors fearing that Berkeley Homes's Steve Morgan and Redrow chairman Tony Pidgley's share sales signal the top of the market, have nothing to worry about, according to analysts at Jefferies. They added Pidgley "still has a lot of skin in the game", while the housebuilding industry was benefiting from a chronic undersupply and the government's help to buy initiative. However, some insiders have questioned whether Morgan, who recently announced he would "ease back" on his role, will go on to sell his entire stake in Berkeley Homes, which increased its dividend by 70% after posting record results.