Diageo finance boss tops up

Diageo's finance boss Deirdre Mahlan has added to her stake in the Guinness brewer and spirits supplier, buying nearly £150,000 of shares.

The American took 3,021 American Depositary Shares (ADS) in the company. An ADS, which is equivalent to four ordinary shares, is a dollar denominated share of a foreign company. She paid $76.75 (4,673p) for each ADS and now has 8,863.

Mahlan was promoted to chief financial officer of Diageo last year. Before joining Diageo, she worked at the Canadian spirits group Seagram.

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Diageo, which makes Guinness and well known spirits such as Smirnoff vodka and Johnnie Walker whisky, posted a rise in pre-tax profits to £1.61bn in the half year to 31 December, from £1.39bn over the same period the previous year.

Volumes in North America were up by 2%, while in the International division, which includes Africa, Latin American and the Caribbean, and the Asia Pacific division they were up 9% and 8% respectively. However, continuing economic worries seemed to be putting Europeans off their drink, with volumes in the continent down by 2%.

"Despite the economic weakness in much of Europe, our first half performance gives me increased confidence that we will improve on the organic operating profit growth we delivered in fiscal 2010," said chief executive Paul Walsh.

Top Director BuysDiageo (DGE) Director name: Ms Deirdre MahlanAmount purchased: 12,084 @ 1,189.44p Value: £143,732

Acencia Debt Strategies Ltd. (ACD) Director name: Mr James M Le PelleyAmount purchased: 150,000 @ 86.01p Value: £129,015

Modern Water (MWG) Director name: Mr R Michael GradonAmount purchased: 200,000 @ 50.00p Value: £100,000

Berkeley Mineral Resources (BMR) Director name: Mr Masoud AlikhaniAmount purchased: 250,000 @ 6.35p Value: £15,875