Sainsbury boss raises nearly £200,000

Sainsbury chief executive Justin King has raised nearly £200,000 by selling shares in the supermarket group.

He has sold 50,000 shares at 390.15p each, which leaves him with 1,392,878 shares in Sainsbury.

This is the first significant deal by King since last July when he sold 172,446 shares awarded via an LTIP at 343.89p a share and an additional 300,000 shares at 346p each. That raised at total of £1.63m.

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King has been chief executive since March 2004 and he is on the board of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

Sainsbury had its best Christmas ever, with better than expected third quarter sales, a growing market share and a record number of customers despite the snow.

Like-for-like sales excluding fuel rose 3.6% in the 14 weeks to 8 January, or 5.4% including petrol, while total sales grew 6% and 7.5% respectively.

Top Director Buys

Henderson Far East Income Ltd. (HFEL) Director name: Mr John Bayley RussellAmount purchased: 10,000 @ 316.90p Value: £31,690

Top Director Sells

ARM Holdings (ARM) Director name: Mr Tudor BrownAmount sold: 200,000 @ 650.22p Value: £1,300,440

United Utilities Group (UU.) Director name: Mr Philip GreenAmount sold: 69,810 @ 574.50p Value: £401,058

J Sainsbury (SBRY) Director name: Mr Justin KingAmount sold: 50,000 @ 390.15p Value: £195,075