National Express's Finch swoops for shares

National Express's new chairman Dean Finch has opened his account at the rail and bus group with the purchase of nearly £150,000 worth of shares.

He bought 68,275 shares at 218.5p a time.

Finch was also awarded shares that he will be able to sell if he is still working with the company when they vest. He was awarded 28,023 shares that will vest on 1 April 2011 and 18,281 shares that will vest on 1 April.

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The purchase and share awards mean he is now holds 114,579 ordinary shares in the company.

Finch joined National Express as chief executive on 15 February after a short stint as chief executive of Tube Lines, which provides maintenance services for trains and infrastructure on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines of the London underground.

Prior to that he worked for 10 years in senior roles at National Express's rival FirstGroup.

Finch replaced Richard Bowker at the helm of National Express. Bowker left National Express last month to take up a job overseeing the construction of a railway network in the United Arab Emirates.

Soon after Finch joined the group, National Express, which recently lost the east coast rail franchise, posted a sharp drop in profits for 2009.

Pre-tax profit from continuing operations dropped by 43% from the previous year to £116.2m. Revenue fell slightly to £2.71bn compared with £2.77bn last time.

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National Express Group (NEX) Director name: Mr Dean K FinchAmount purchased: 68,275 @ 218.06p Value: £148,880

Trakm8 (TRAK) Director name: Mr John Ferris WatkinsAmount purchased: 833,333 @ 12.00p Value: £100,000

Trakm8 (TRAK) Director name: Mr James Killingworth HedgesAmount purchased: 583,333 @ 12.00p Value: £70,000

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WPP Group (WPP) Director name: Mr Timothy ShriverAmount purchased: 5,000 @ 648.43p Value: £32,421

Plant Health Care (PHC) Director name: Dr Dominik KoechlinAmount purchased: 20,000 @ 234.00p Value: £46,800

Leaf Clean Energy (LEAF) Director name: Mr John Curtis MoffattAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 61.00p Value: £30,500

Trakm8 (TRAK) Director name: Mr Tim CowleyAmount purchased: 207,707 @ 12.00p Value: £24,925

Chamberlin and Hill (CMH) Director name: Mr Tim M HairAmount purchased: 30,000 @ 51.00p Value: £15,300

Leyshon Resources (LRL) Director name: Mr John Fletcher CBEAmount purchased: 113,500 @ 10.56p Value: £11,986

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