Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise, Chief Executive of High Street retailer Next, has made his first sale since March 2007 in a move which triggered a widespread sale of the company's shares.
Wolfson, who has stood at the helm of the chain store since 2001, sold off 125,000 shares at 3,057p each for a total of £3.8m shares, taking his stake in the firm down to 0.9%.
The share price is now back where it began the week, around the 2,976p mark, having risen above 3,060p before diving to 2,990p on Wednesday morning.
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The sale was particularly notable because the CEO has only sold shares three times within the last seven years, and consequently sparked fears among investors that the retailer was in trouble.
However, Rahul Sharma, Managing Director of retail focused Neev Capital, said he doesn't believe that the sale is "any particular signal to the market," and suggests Wolfson may just have wanted to cash in on the firm's soaring share price.
Next's share price is now just 3p down on a week ago, but has gained over 46%, or 946p, in the past year.
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Amount purchased: 400,000 @ 3.49p
Value: £13,960
Top Director Sells
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Director name: Mr Justin Beckett
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Value: £369,526
News Corp. 'A' Shares (NCRA)
Director name: Mr Stanley S. Shuman
Amount sold: 1,073 @ $19.92
Value: $21,374
News Corp. 'A' Shares (NCRA)
Director name: Mr Lachlan Murdoch
Amount sold: 1,073 @ $19.92
Value: $21,374
News Corp. 'A' Shares (NCRA)
Director name: Mr Andrew S B Knight
Amount sold: 1,073 @ $19.92
Value: $21,374
News Corp. 'A' Shares (NCRA)
Director name: Mr Sir Rod Eddington
Amount sold: 1,073 @ $19.92
Value: $21,374
News Corp. 'A' Shares (NCRA)
Director name: Mr David DeVoe
Amount sold: 1,073 @ $19.92
Value: $21,374
News Corp. 'A' Shares (NCRA)
Director name: Mr Peter Barnes
Amount sold: 1,073 @ $19.92
Value: $21,374
News Corp. 'A' Shares (NCRA)
Director name: Mr Jose Maria Aznar
Amount sold: 1,073 @ $19.92
Value: $21,374
Johnson Service Group (JSG)
Director name: Mr Paul Ogle
Amount sold: 44,880 @ 30.05p
Value: £13,486
Johnson Service Group (JSG)
Director name: Mr Chris Sander
Amount sold: 44,880 @ 30.05p
Value: £13,486
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