Aviva director offloads yet more shares, Sky boss sells too

Leslie Van de Walle, a non-executive director at Aviva, has sold another £29,199-worth of shares in the firm.

The director, who yesterday sold £42,659-worth of shares in the insurance giant, sold 9,000 shares at 324.43p each.

Van de Walle, 55, joined the board in 2009 and is also the director of SIG.

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Last month Aviva announced that it is to raise $400m in capital securities, which will operate almost exactly like bonds and will pay 8.25%. They are due for repayment in 2041.

The firm, which saw a decline in world-wide sales in the nine months to the end of September, says it will use the money for "general corporate purposes" and that "proceeds will be counted towards its regulatory capital resources".

BSkyB chief executive Jeremy Darroch has also made a sale, disposing of 220,000 shares at 745.87p for a total of £1,640,914.

Darroch has been on the board in various roles since 2004.

Back in October, the satellite TV, landline and broadband supplier saw a strong rise in profits in the quarter to 30 September as it increased sales of all three products.

Revenue rose to £1.66bn from £1.53bn over the same period the previous year the previous year, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) climbed to £381m from £335m. Earnings per share grew by 20% to 11.6p, slightly shy of the 22% growth that had been predicted by Nomura.

Despite a turbulent year, BSkyB has only lost 0.5% on its share price over the past year.

Top Director Buys

Assura Group Ltd. (AGR)

Director name: Mr Simon T Laffin

Amount purchased: 221,638 @ 33.50p

Value: £74,249

Grainger (GRI)

Director name: Mr Nick Jopling

Amount purchased: 20,000 @ 105.70p

Value: £21,140

Top Director Sells

British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY)

Director name: Mr Jeremy Darroch

Amount sold: 220,000 @ 745.87p

Value: £1,640,914

Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY)

Director name: Mr Martin Weigold

Amount sold: 750,000 @ 135.88p

Value: £1,019,100

Aviva (AV.)

Director name: Mr Leslie Van de Walle

Amount sold: 9,000 @ 324.43p

Value: £29,199

Ruukki Group (DI) (RKKI)

Director name: Mr Markku Kankaala

Amount sold: 13,500 @ 78.96p

Value: £10,660