Chairman buys Mitchells & Butlers shares

John Lovering, the chairman of pubs group Mitchells & Butlers, has invested nearly £145,000 in the company's shares.

He bought 50,000 shares at 289.5p each. This follows his initial purchase of 100,000 shares at 297.61p a share back in March.

Lovering has been chairman since January. He is a former finance director of Sears and chief operating officer at Tarmac.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up

Earlier this month, Mitchells & Butlers sold a portfolio of 333 non-core pubs for £373m in cash to a private equity-backed firm so that it can focus on the informal eating out market. This leaves Mitchells & Butlers with 1,580 restaurants and food-led pubs. It had previously sold its Hollywood Bowl business for £27m.

Panmure Gordon says that the disposals will dilute short-term earnings but the cash will enable the company to expand in its chosen areas.

Top Director Buys

Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) Director name: Mr John D LoveringAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 289.50p Value: £144,750

Anglo American (AAL) Director name: Mr Jack Thompson Amount purchased: 2,500 @ 2,238.38p Value: £55,960

Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) Director name: Mr Michael Edward GibbinAmount purchased: 4,189 @ 1,596.00p Value: £66,856

Xchanging (XCH) Director name: Mr Nigel RichAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 118.89p Value: £59,445

XP Power (XPP) Director name: Mr Larry TraceyAmount purchased: 6,000 @ 735.00p Value: £44,100