Fiberweb boss buys

Chief executive Daniel Dayan has increased his stake in nonwoven products supplier Fiberweb.

Dayan has invested nearly £80,000 in 129,000 shares at 62p each. That takes his stake to just over 1.14m shares.

Finance director Daniel Adams acquired 96,000 shares at the same price - an investment of nearly £60,000. Admas owns 435,309 shares.

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Fiberweb reported its interim figures in August.

Fiberweb improved underlying operating profit by one-quarter to £13.6m in the first half of 2010. Revenues fell 5% to £231.7m but like-for-like trading volumes were 7% ahead. The one weak spot was the hygiene products division, which has been hit by higher raw material prices so its margin has dipped.

Underlying pre-tax profit improved from £4.5m to £6.9m but the second half is not expected to be as strong.

However, the current full year profit forecast of £10.5m leaves room for further upgrades if trading continues to be strong.

Borrowings remain high. Net debt edged up to £141.8m at the end of June 2010 but that was mainly due to high capital spending in the period.

The interim dividend is maintained at 1.7p a share. An unchanged total dividend of 4.2p a share equates to a yield of 6.8% at the share price paid for the latest purchases by Dayan and Adams.

Top Director Buys

Fiberweb (FWEB) Director name: Mr Daniel DayanAmount purchased: 129,000 @ 62.00p Value: £79,980

Silanis International (SNS) Director name: Mr Justin LaFayetteAmount purchased: 937,978 @ 7.50p Value: £70,348

Fiberweb (FWEB) Director name: Mr Daniel AbramsAmount purchased: 96,000 @ 62.00p Value: £59,520

Quintain Estates & Development (QED) Director name: Mr William RuckerAmount purchased: 100,000 @ 39.88p Value: £39,880

Zenergy Power (ZEN) Director name: Mr John PoulterAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 41.75p Value: £20,875

TT Electronics (TTG) Director name: Mr Sean Michael WatsonAmount purchased: 10,000 @ 139.35p Value: £13,935

Top Director Sells

Hochschild Mining (HOC) Director name: Mr Roberto DainoAmount sold: 137,691 @ 388.88p Value: £535,453

General Electric (GEC) Director name: Mr Keith S. SherinAmount sold: 8,728 @ €12.53 Value: €109,384

General Electric (GEC) Director name: Mr John G. RiceAmount sold: 8,656 @ €12.53 Value: €108,481

General Electric (GEC) Director name: Mr Michael A. NealAmount sold: 8,590 @ €12.53 Value: €107,654

General Electric (GEC) Director name: Mr Pamela DaleyAmount sold: 2,543 @ €12.53 Value: €31,870