The number of transactions made by directors were thin on the ground this week, but now that the start of the busy results season has arrived, the deals will take off again. There may well have been only six sell entries in our table, but the directors involved netted a total of £3.2m.
Premier Foods' preliminary statement revealed pre-tax profit returning to the black after last year's loss, while Thorntons' half-year profits rose 640 per cent over the same period the previous year.
It isn't that surprising that five of the Premier Foods' directors all bought shares in their company, including chief executive officer Gavin Darby, whose transaction was the largest of the week - he spent £750,268. Likewise, the chairman of Thorntons, Paul Wilkinson, didn't waste much time, either, in buying into his company's shares at the earliest opportunity.
Buys
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Total shares held | Value (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberforth Geared Income Trust | Michael Creig | 25 Feb 13 | 4,795 | 117.6 | 5,639 | 24,219 | 0.022 |
| CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities | James Keyes | 20 Feb 13 | 100,000 | 91 | 91,000 | 154,942 | 0.0419 |
| CATCo Reinsurance Opportunities | James Keyes | 21 Feb 13 | 100,000 | 92 | 92,000 | 254,942 | 0.0689 |
| Chrysalis VCT | Martin Knight | 20 Feb 13 | 50,000 | 61.5 | 30,750 | 180,652 | 0.61 |
| Conygar Investment | Preston Rabl | 21 Feb 13 | 40,000 | 105 | 42,000 | 891,190 | 0.99 |
| Dechra Pharmaceuticals | Tony Griffin | 26 Feb 13 | 8,000 | 684 | 54,720 | 20,077 | 0.023 |
| Dechra Pharmaceuticals | Julian Heslop | 26 Feb 13 | 5,000 | 684 | 34,200 | 5,000 | 0.006 |
| Dechra Pharmaceuticals | Ishbel Macpherson | 26 Feb 13 | 2,987 | 684 | 20,431 | 2,897 | 0.003 |
| Energy XXI | John Schiller (ch, ceo) | 21 Feb 13 | 10,000 | US$30.5 | US$305,000 | 1,243,066 | 1.566 |
| Enteq Upstream | Raymond Garcia (coo) | 25 Feb 13 | 10,594 | 71 | 7,522 | 509,196 | 0.86 |
| Green Compliance | Bob Holt (ch, ceo) | 21 Feb 13 | 500,000 | 1.9 | 9,500 | 2,100,000 | 1.67 |
| Greencore | John Warren | 20 Feb 13 | 25,000 | 105.6 | 26,400 | 25,000 | 0.006 |
| International Greetings | John Charlton | 19 Feb 13 | 20,000 | 47.5 | 9,500 | 25,000 | 0.1 |
| JPMorgan European Sm Cos Trust | Carolan Dobson | 12 Feb 13 | 929 | 829.74 | 7,708 | 2,000 | 0.006 |
| Ladbrokes | Christine Hodgson | 21 Feb 13 | 15,000 | 222.8 | 33,420 | 15,000 | - |
| Ladbrokes | Sly Bailey | 21 Feb 13 | 10,000 | 220.8 | 22,080 | 10,000 | - |
| Marks and Spencer | Andy Halford | 22 Feb 13 | 3,000 | 377.3 | 11,319 | - | - |
| Premier Foods | Gavin Darby (ceo) | 21 Feb 13 | 750,268 | 93.3 | 700,000 | 750,268 | 0.31 |
| Premier Foods | Ian Krieger | 21 Feb 13 | 20,000 | 93.3 | 18,660 | 20,000 | 0.01 |
| Premier Foods | Jennifer Laing | 21 Feb 13 | 16,078 | 93.3 | 15,001 | 16,078 | 0.01 |
| Premier Foods | Ian Deste | 21 Feb 13 | 21,380 | 92.74 | 19,828 | 73,898 | 0.03 |
| Premier Foods | Charles Smith | 21 Feb 13 | 57,000 | 94 | 53,580 | 325,027 | 0.14 |
| Steppe Cement | Malcolm Brown (ch) | 22 Feb 13 | 150,000 | 34.02 | 51,030 | 572,120 | 0.26 |
| STV | Genevieve Duhigg | 21 Feb 13 | 10,499 | 140.3 | 14,730 | 10,499 | 0.027 |
| Talisman First Venture Capital Trust | Brian May | 25 Feb 13 | 50,000 | 35.25 | 17,625 | 112,800 | 2.12 |
| Thorntons | Paul Wilkinson (ch) | 25 Feb 13 | 310,000 | 47 | 145,700 | 1,000,503 | 1.46 |
| Trakm8 | J Watkins (ceo) | 25 Feb 13 | 23,560 | 15 | 3,534 | 4,558,292 | 23.48 |
| TXO | Tim Baldwin | 21 Feb 13 | 10,000,000 | 0.205 | 20,500 | 25,000,000 | 2.15 |
Sells
| Company | Director | Date | No. of shares | Price (p) | Value (£) | Total shares held | Value (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brammer | Paul Thwaite | 20 Feb 13 | 5,500 | 340.00 | 18,700 | 1,049,150 | 0.8951 |
| Fidessa | Alistair Cairns | 22 Feb 13 | 585 | 1,919.57 | 11,229 | 841 | 0.0023 |
| Rathbone Brothers | Ian Buckley | 20 Feb 13 | 14,803 | 1,403 | 207,686 | 46,776 | 0.102 |
| Spectris | Roger Stephens | 20 Feb 13 | 46,126 | 2,449.10 | 1,129,672 | 25,135 | - |
| Spectris | James Webster | 21 Feb 13 | 22,430 | 2,380.31 | 533,904 | 112,570 | - |
| XP Power | Larry Tracey (ch) | 26 Feb 13 | 120,000 | 1,080.00 | 1,296,000 | 1,276,838 | 6.64 |
Table compiled by Robert Ansted
Key to abbreviations: ch = chairman; ce = chief executive; cfo = chief financial officer; fd = finance director; coo = chief operating officer; cs =company secretary; md = managing director
