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Darren Laguea, the recently appointed chief executive of wastewater treatment company Nature Group, has taken his stake to 29.9%.

Laguea invested just short of £35,000 in acquiring 135,000 shares at 25.9p each. Laguea had a 29.9% interest in the company but it was diluted by the issue of 450,000 option shares in January. The latest purchase returns the stake to 29.9% and Laguea can't buy any more without bidding for the company.

At the end of 2008, Nature issued 14.04 million shares to WOMS for the 50% it did not own of the owner of its Gibraltar wastewater treatment facility. WOMS is owned by a family trust of Laguea and had to immediately sell some of these shares in order to stay below 305 at that time.

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Laguea was appointed chief executive of Nature on 4 November 2009.

In January, Nature signed up two new customers to its Gibraltar facility. Oil slops and wastewater will be transported from Malta and Ceuta on the North African coast to the port waste treatment facility. A one year licence has been signed with the port of Malta to collect up to 28,000m3 of oil waste. Waste collection group EcoCeuta has signed a five year deal for up to 12,000m3 of oil waste a year.

The Gibraltar facility can handle up to 200,000m3 of slops and wastewater a year. In 2009, it handled 67,000m3 of oil waste waters. The new contracts will significantly increase the usage of the facility.

Nature reported interim revenues of £2.71 million and a profit of £629,000 in the six months to June 2009. The interim profit was more than that reported for the whole of 2008. Net cash was £88,000.

Management says that it will pay a dividend of 0.5p a share if 2009 earnings continue the trend in the first half. The share price has risen by 175% over the past year.

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