Western Coal director sells option shares

Western Coal Corporation director Charles Pitcher made a gain of £227,000 by selling shares he has acquired through the exercise of options.

Pitcher purchased 175,000 shares at an option price of C$1.95 a share and immediately sold them at C$4.10 a share, thereby raising £433,982. Pitcher still owns 140,000 shares and has options over 300,000 shares.

Pitcher was chief executive of the company between 2002 and 2004 and then chief operating officer for six months until November 2004.

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Canada-based coal miner WCC completed the acquisition of Cambrian Mining during the summer of 2009. WCC subsequently raised $59.7m gross at $2.70 a share. The share price has nearly doubled over the past month.

In December, WCC invested £8.73m in Energybuild shares at 15p each. Just over one-half of the cash came from the conversion of £4.5m in loans to Energybuild. WCC has a 54.7% stake in the Welsh coal miner. Energybuild plans to expand production to 750,000 tonnes per annum by 2013.

WCC plans to buy back up to 5% of its share capital.

There is a law suit hanging over the company. The proposed class action lawsuit commenced in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in November 2009. The claim alleges that WCC published inaccurate information in its second quarter figures for 2007. WCC does not believe that the legal action has any merit.

Top Director Buys

Tikit (TIK) Director name: Mr Neville DavisAmount purchased: 10,000 @ 130.00p Value: £13,000

Top Director Sells

Salamander Energy (SMDR) Director name: Mr Robert CatheryAmount sold: 309,869 @ 306.00p Value: £948,199

Western Coal Corp. (WTN) Director name: Mr Charles G PitcherAmount sold: 175,000 @ 247.99p Value: £433,982

Dairy Farm International (Singapore) (DFI) Director name: Mr Ronald J FlotoAmount sold: 90,900 @ $5.99 Value: $544,346

Brooks Macdonald (BRK) Director name: Mr Nicholas Hugh LawesAmount sold: 10,000 @ 508.50p Value: £50,850