New AMEC chairman spends £200,000

Another director at AMEC has picked up shares in the engineering and project management company.

New chairman John Connolly took 17,500 shares at 1,118p a time, paying a total of more than £200,000. He got them cheaper than non-executive director Colin Day, who bought 10,000 shares at 1,140p a pop, the company reported yesterday.

Like Day, Connolly doubled his stake in the firm with his latest purchase.

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Connolly joined the AMEC board as chairman on 1 June, having retired as chief executive of accountancy group Deloitte UK the previous day.

AMEC has seen an increase in its order book in 2011 and expects the year to be one of steady progress for the group.

In an update last month AMEC said it traded in line with expectations in the first four months of the year. The order book at the end of April stood at £3.25bn, up from £3.14bn at the end of 2010 but down from £3.55bn a year earlier.

Group EBITA (earnings before interest, tax and amortisation) margin this year is expected to remain steady at around 9%.

"We continue to be well positioned across our portfolio of oil and gas, mining, clean energy, and environmental and water sectors and we remain confident that this will support continued growth, building on our strong client relationships," said AMEC chief executive Samir Brikho.

Top Director Buys

Breedon Aggregates Ltd. (BREE) Director name: Mr Peter W G TomAmount purchased: 1,500,000 @ 16.50p Value: £247,500

Amec (AMEC) Director name: Mr John ConnollyAmount purchased: 17,500 @ 1,145.00p Value: £200,375

Breedon Aggregates Ltd. (BREE) Director name: Mr David WarrAmount purchased: 1,000,000 @ 16.50p Value: £165,000

Breedon Aggregates Ltd. (BREE) Director name: Mr David WilliamsAmount purchased: 1,000,000 @ 16.50p Value: £165,000

Top Director Sells