1st Dental share buy

Grahame Sewell, who was appointed non-executive chairman of AIM-quoted 1st Dental Laboratories on 23 September 2009, has acquired more than 2% of the company.

Sewell bought 938,333 shares at 2.5p each. That cost £23,458. Sewell's stake increases to 1.05m shares, or 2.49% of 1st Dental.

It is particularly interesting that Sewell has bought such a large stake when he was appointed chairman on an interim basis. Sewell has been a non-executive director since the flotation in April 2002. At that time he did not own any shares.

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Sewell is the only director remaining from the time of the flotation. 1st Dental raised £1.55m net via a placing at 27p a share - more than ten times Sewell's latest purchase price.

The dental laboratories operator increased its revenues by 5.3% to £5.13m in the six months to May 2009. The reported loss increased from £141,000 to £326,000, after £206,000 of costs relating to the investment in the sales force and online business eTeeth - where revenues doubled. The client base is being built up and this is helping to fill unused capacity. Trading in the first two months of the second half was better than expected.

Net debt was £1.61m at the end of May 2009, up from £1.43m six months earlier.

Top Director Buys

1st Dental Laboratories (FDT) Director name: Mr Grahame SewellAmount purchased: 938,333 @ 2.50p Value: £23,458

Top Director Sells

RM Group (RM.) Director name: Mr Rob SirsAmount sold: 50,000 @ 181.75p Value: £90,875

Fuller Smith and Turner (FSTA) Director name: Mr Richard FullerAmount sold: 7,000 @ 515.00p Value: £36,050

RM Group (RM.) Director name: Mr Mike GreigAmount sold: 12,000 @ 181.75p Value: £21,810