Asian Citrus directors buy after interims

Two directors of AIM-quoted and Hong Kong-listed Asian Citrus have made significant investments in the Chinese orange grower.

Non-executive director Hon Peregrine Moncreiffe has invested nearly £294,000 by acquiring 400,000 shares at an average price of 73.39p each. That takes his shareholding to 450,000. He has been a director for more than five years.

Pang Yi, the deputy general manager of the Hepu plantation, bought 122,000 shares at an average price of 70.87p each. This investment of just over £86,000 took his stake to 439,000 shares.

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At the end of February, Asian Citrus reported more than doubled profits for the six months to December 2010. In sterling terms the increase was even greater with profits jumping from £22.7m to £52m because of favourable exchange rate movements.

That profit includes a gain in value of the orange trees as they mature and the yield improves. Even stripping that out, the rise in profit was from £7.6m to £18.6m. Despite further issues of shares the interim earnings per share improved from 1p to 2.1p. Asian Citrus is paying its first interim dividend.

The Hepu plantation is fully developed but there is more to come from the Xinfeng and Hunan plantations as their trees mature and more are planted at Hunan.

The acquisition of juice maker Beihai BPG gives greater flexibility to the group and takes it into the market for other fruits.

Top Director Buys

Asian Citrus Holding (ACHL) Director name: Hon Peregrine D E M MoncreiffeAmount purchased: 400,000 @ 73.39p Value: £293,560

Asian Citrus Holding (ACHL) Director name: Mr Pang YiAmount purchased: 122,000 @ 70.87p Value: £86,461

Pendragon (PDG) Director name: Mr Tim Holden Amount purchased: 300,000 @ 23.00p Value: £69,000

Avanti Communications Group (AVN) Director name: Major William WyattAmount purchased: 7,000 @ 501.00p Value: £35,070

Top Director Sells

Lancashire Holdings (LRE) Director name: Mr Robert Alan SpassAmount sold: 152,000 @ 590.64p Value: £897,773

Filtrona PLC (FLTR) Director name: Mr Jon GreenAmount sold: 142,812 @ 299.76p Value: £428,093

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