The Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC) share price has not had a fantastic 2022. Nor has the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), of which Lendlease is a part of, to be fair. But while the ASX 200 has gone backwards by around 4.5% over the year to date, Lendlease shares have dropped by a far more depressing 28.9%.
This ASX 200 property development company has had a tough year, to be sure. Back in August, Lendlease reported that it had booked a statutory loss after tax of $99 million for FY2022, a big turnaround from the profit of $222 million from FY 2021.
Core operating profits after tax also fell heavily, dropping 27% to $276 million. Lendlese also trimmed its dividend, giving investors a final dividend of 11 cents per share instead of the 12 cents that investors enjoyed last year.
So it probably goes without saying that Lendlease investors are in the mood for some good news. Well, they might have it this week.
Directors back up the truck on Lendlease shares
A series of ASX releases put out yesterday show that not one, not two or three, but five Lendlease directors have been buying up shares in their own company.
We have Elizabeth Proust, who picked up 10,000 Lendlease shares for a price of $7.92 each on 21 November.
David Craig went even heavier, buying 32,939 shares for $7.93 each on 21 November.
Philip Coffey bought a similar amount, 30,000 shares, also for around $7.93 each.
Anthony Lombardo went even harder. He has added 45,000 at $7.85 a share.
Michael Ullmer takes the cake, though. He picked up 50,000 shares for $7.926 each on 21 November.
Lombardo and Ullmer are Lendlease's most senior directors. Lombardo is the company's global CEO and managing executive director. Ullmer is Lendlease's chair.
So no doubt shareholders will be buoyed by seeing such commitment to the company coming from the top. But we'll have to wait and see if the directors have played this one right.
At the current Lendlease share price, this ASX 200 property share has a market capitalisation of $5.47 billion, with a dividend yield of 2.07%.
