National Grid Chairman invests following full-year results

A round-up of the biggest director buys today so far.

The Chairman of National Grid has raised his stake just five days after the energy supplier reported a five per cent increase in full-year adjusted profits.

Sir Peter Gershon, who joined the board as deputy Chairman in August last year, became the sole Chairman in January after succeeding Sir John Parker.

Gershon, who is also the Chairman of FTSE 100 sweeteners group Tate & Lyle, today bought 22,352 shares in the firm for 667.5p each for a total of £149,200.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up

On May 17th, the company said that adjusted profit before tax in the year ended March 31st was £2,585m, up 5% from £2,473m the year before and ahead of market expectations of £2,545m. Excluding the impact of timing and major storms (such as Hurricane Irene), profit before tax increased by 23% using constant exchange rates.

Revenue eased to £13,832m from £14,343m the year before. The median forecast for revenue from the range of analyst forecasts was £14,482m.

Top Director Buys

Redrow (RDW)

Director name: Mr Steve Morgan

Amount purchased: 56,904,172 @ 130.00p

Value: £73,975,424

National Grid (NG.)

Director name: Sir Peter Gershon

Amount purchased: 22,352 @ 667.50p

Value: £149,200

Coastal Energy Co (DI) (CEO)

Director name: Mr Olivier De Montal

Amount purchased: 10,000 @ 822.00p

Value: £82,200

F&C Asset Management (FCAM)

Director name: Mr Edward Bramson

Amount purchased: 157,341 @ 71.07p

Value: £111,822

Marston's (MARS)

Director name: Mr Ralph Graham Findlay

Amount purchased: 100,817 @ 98.45p

Value: £99,254

Murray International Trust (MYI)

Director name: Dr Kevin Carter

Amount purchased: 5,000 @ 907.00p

Value: £45,350

Wildhorse Energy Ltd. (DI) (WHE)

Director name: Mr Matthew A. Swinney

Amount purchased: 647,668 @ 5.00p

Value: £32,383

Redrow (RDW)

Director name: Mr John F Tutte

Amount purchased: 20,652 @ 130.00p

Value: £26,848

Murray International Trust (MYI)

Director name: Mr Peter Dunscombe

Amount purchased: 2,500 @ 912.01p

Value: £22,800

Empresaria Group (EMR)

Director name: Mr Tony Martin

Amount purchased: 55,000 @ 34.09p

Value: £18,750

Top Director Sells

Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd (Singapore) (JAR)

Director name: Mr Adam Phillip Charles Keswick

Amount sold: 18,060 @ $49.89

Value: $901,089

Prezzo (PRZ)

Director name: Mr Kuldip Sehmi

Amount sold: 134,615 @ 70.00p

Value: £94,230

E2V Technologies (E2V)

Director name: Mr Charles Hindson

Amount sold: 38,544 @ 124.00p

Value: £47,795