Wellstream boss cuts stake

A round-up of the biggest director deals today so far.

Gordon Chapman, chief executive of oil services firm Wellstream, has raised £753,000 from the sale of a total of 150,000 shares.

The shares were sold at 518p, 496p and 500p - the majority were sold at the latter price. This is well above the April 2007 flotation price of 320p a share but well below the 2010 high of 690p a share.

Chapman retains nearly 1.2m shares in Wellstream.

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Wellstream supplies flexible pipeline products for the oil and gas sector and the share price has been hit by the general malaise of the oil producer and services businesses following BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

At the recent AGM, Wellstream said that its order book had improved since the year end with more than £80m of new contracts coming from Brazil. The order book is worth more than £190m. Turnover was £401m in 2009 and it is forecast by FinnCap to fall to £359m this year. FinnCap expects profits to decline from £47.8m to £37.3m.

Top Director Buys

Kofax (KFX) Director name: Mr Greg LockAmount purchased: 70,000 @ 235.00p Value: £164,500

Lookers (LOOK) Director name: Mr Peter JonesAmount purchased: 219,000 @ 50.00p Value: £109,500

Petropavlovsk (POG) Director name: Mr Peter HambroAmount purchased: 8,000 @ 1,238.00p Value: £99,040

Carclo (CAR) Director name: Mr Christopher Graham RossAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 160.00p Value: £80,000

Scapa Group (SCPA) Director name: Mr Heejae ChaeAmount purchased: 330,000 @ 15.00p Value: £49,500

VinaLand Ltd. (VNL) Director name: Mr Don Di LamAmount purchased: 50,000 @ $0.87 Value: $43,500

Hogg Robinson (HRG) Director name: Mr Julian SteadmanAmount purchased: 143,333 @ 29.72p Value: £42,599

Alterian (ALN) Director name: Mr Alastair GordonAmount purchased: 20,000 @ 153.00p Value: £30,600

Global Petroleum (GBP) Director name: Mr Mark SavageAmount purchased: 200,000 @ 7.84p Value: £15,680

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) Director name: Mr Christopher J RickardAmount purchased: 86,660 @ 28.85p Value: £25,001

Top Director Sells

Wellstream Holdings (WSM) Director name: Mr Gordon ChapmanAmount sold: 120,000 @ 500.00p Value: £600,000

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) Director name: Mr Marc Bolland Amount sold: 154,238 @ 331.49p Value: £511,284

Robert Wiseman (RWD) Director name: Mr David DobbinsAmount sold: 22,241 @ 485.95p Value: £108,080

Robert Wiseman (RWD) Director name: Mr William G KeaneAmount sold: 22,241 @ 485.95p Value: £108,080

Robert Wiseman (RWD) Director name: Mr Martyn MulcahyAmount sold: 22,241 @ 485.95p Value: £108,080

Wellstream Holdings (WSM) Director name: Mr Gordon ChapmanAmount sold: 20,000 @ 518.00p Value: £103,600

Wellstream Holdings (WSM) Director name: Mr Gordon ChapmanAmount sold: 10,000 @ 496.00p Value: £49,600