In a lively week for Providence Resources, the cinema mogul Tom Anderson has sold off 10 million of his shares.

Providence announced the sale to the markets this morning, alongside a separate announcement noting media speculation over a deal for the Ballyroe oil and gas field. 

It was reported in the Business Post on Thursday that Providence had finalised a deal over the Barryroe field with a Norwegian consortium called SpotOn Energy. 

Despite heavy selling by Tom Anderson, who sold 1.1 per cent of the company’s share capital on the day, the share price reacted strongly to the Business Post story. It was up five per cent at the close on Thursday.

It would appear the market isn’t buying Providence’s dismissal. The share is now trading 20 per cent higher than Thursday’s open.

Providence’s rebuttal of the story this morning wasn’t what you’d call forceful. Providence said this morning: 

“Providence Resources… notes the recent media speculation regarding the status of its farm-out discussions with SpotOn Energy Ltd… in relation to Standard Exploration License (“SEL”) 1/11 which contains the Barryroe oil and gas field.

“Providence confirms that it remains in exclusive discussions with SpotOn in relation to a farm out of SEL 1/11 and will update the market in due course and as required.”

Providence has had a great 2020. Against a backdrop of moderate increases in the oil price, the share has gone on a tear. It’s up more than sevenfold from the low point in early March. 

The share has benefited from a positive news flow and buzz over the Barryroe field. Over the summer, the firm announced that a consortium of highly regarded oil services companies and drillers were getting on board. They included SpotOn Energy, Schlumberger, Aker Solutions, AGR, Maersk Drilling, Keppel FELS, and Aibel.

Tom Anderson, meanwhile, had built his position in the company over the summer. In mid-July the company reported that he owned 28 million shares, amounting to 3.4 per cent of its share capital. With this sale, his stake has been reduced to 18 million shares.

Tom Anderson is from the Ward Anderson family, which was for decades a major Irish cinema business. He owns the Empire Cinema group, which has 14 cinemas across the UK.

In 2017, his big deal was the sale of five Empire cinemas to Cineworld for €109 million. After that, he sold a stake in the Pearl and Dean cinema advertising business. 

This isn’t Anderson’s first foray into the world of thinly-traded small caps. Earlier this year, he bought and then sold a big stake in Datalex. And in 2015, he built a 6.5 per cent stake in the tiny tungsten miner Ormonde Mining.

After this week, he’s left with a chunky 18 million shares in Providence. Presumably, he’s hanging on to see what happens with Barryroe.