Diageo director sells shares

The chief executive officer (CEO) at Diageo has sold off a portion of his shares in the company for a total of just over £1.9m.

Paul Walsh disposed of 145,000 at 1,335p per share less than one week after Diageo, the FTSE 100 drinks company behind such brands as Guinness and Baileys, announced sales growth of 9% in the three months to 30 September.

The company admitted that some of the performance can be attributed to one off comparisons with the previous year which are unlikely to reoccur including destocking in its European markets and poor performance in 2010 in the US.

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Speaking last week, Paul Walsh said: "Net sales growth was marginally ahead of expectations and the quarter did benefit from some one-off factors which are not expected to reoccur in the second quarter. We continue to expect that net sales growth for the first half will improve on that delivered in fiscal 2011."

He added: "We are alert to any impact which the fragile global economy may have on trading patterns as we continue to build our brands with consumers and enhance our relationships with customers."

Walsh, who now holds 5,000 ordinary shares, has been the CEO at Diageo since 2000, and a director for three years previous to that.

The firm has gained 13.47% on its share price in the past year, and 4.61% in the last week.

Top Director Buys

Telit Communications (TCM)

Director name: Mr Oozi Cats

Amount purchased: 300,000 @ 44.00p

Value: £132,000

Personal Assets Trust (PNL)

Director name: Mr Stuart Paul

Amount purchased: 358 @ 33,020.00p

Value: £118,212

Renishaw (RSW)

Director name: Mr W H Whiteley

Amount purchased: 3,000 @ 924.00p

Value: £27,720

Top Director Sells

Diageo (DGE)

Director name: Mr Paul S Walsh

Amount sold: 145,000 @ 1,335.00p

Value: £1,935,750

M Winkworth (WINK)

Director name: Mr Simon Agace

Amount sold: 150,000 @ 84.00p

Value: £126,000

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