Bodycote CEO ditches chunk of shares

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

Stephen Harris, who has held the role of Chief Executive Officer at FTSE 250 heat treatment firm Bodycote for over three years, sliced off a sizeable chunk of his shares on May 4th.

Harris, who has also been a director of Spectris, ditched 94,000 shares at 421.00p each, earning himself the handsome sum of £395,740.

He now holds 542,983 shares in the firm.

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The sale was made just a few days after the company announced plans to open a new surface technology plant in Houston, Texas. The new plant, scheduled to open during the third quarter of 2012, will enable Houston's large oil & gas market to access Bodycote's spray services, which prolong the life of components operating in extreme environments.

Bodycote recently unveiled a strong first quarter and is on track to meet full-year forecasts.

Revenue for the three months to the end of March was 6.9% higher than in the same period last year, while sales in its Aerospace, Defence & Energy division were ahead by 13.5% compared to the same period in 2011.

The share price has risen just 1.3% in the past year, and is down over 10% in the last month.

Top Director Buys

InterQuest Group (ITQ)

Director name: Mr Gary Goldsmith

Amount purchased: 668,896 @ 59.80p

Value: £400,000

Sinclair Is Pharma (SPH)

Director name: Mr Jean-Charles Tschudin

Amount purchased: 251,160 @ 26.60p

Value: £66,809

Kofax (KFX)

Director name: Mr Reynolds Carl Bish

Amount purchased: 20,000 @ 260.00p

Value: £52,000

XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP)

Director name: Mr Larry Tracey

Amount purchased: 4,000 @ 1,175.00p

Value: £47,000

Raven Russia Ltd (RUS)

Director name: Mr Glyn Vincent Hirsch

Amount purchased: 66,240 @ 61.00p

Value: £40,406

Raven Russia Ltd (RUS)

Director name: Mr Anton John Godfrey Bilton

Amount purchased: 64,759 @ 61.00p

Value: £39,503

Maven Income & Growth 3 VCT (MIG3)

Director name: Mr Bill Nixon

Amount purchased: 45,000 @ 73.50p

Value: £33,075

Somero Enterprises Inc.(Reg S) (SOM)

Director name: Mr Jack Cooney

Amount purchased: 84,000 @ 23.50p

Value: £19,740

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY)

Director name: Mrs Sara Weller

Amount purchased: 50,000 @ 32.33p

Value: £16,165

Capital & Regional (CAL)

Director name: Mr Charles Staveley

Amount purchased: 50,000 @ 29.29p

Value: £14,645

Top Director Sells

Bodycote (BOY)

Director name: Mr Stephen C Harris

Amount sold: 94,000 @ 421.00p

Value: £395,740

Raven Russia Ltd (RUS)

Director name: Mr Mark Sinclair

Amount sold: 173,000 @ 60.62p

Value: £104,873

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