Inchcape chairman buys

Inchcape non-executive chairman Ken Hanna has nearly doubled his stake in the vehicle distributor and dealer.

Hanna has acquired 330,000 shares at 29.58p each, costing a total of £97,614. That takes his stake to 700,000 shares. Hanna acquired 333,000 shares at 6p each in April's rights issue.

The purchase follows a pre-close trading statement that said that the 2009 figures will be "slightly ahead of expectations". Revenues fell by 11% in the eleven months to November 2009. In constant currency terms the decline was nearly 18%. The like-for-like decline was 9%.

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UK dealerships are benefiting from the government incentives for car buyers. Second hand car margins remain high. In contrast, the rest of Europe is weak. There are signs of recovery in Australia and Hong Kong. A global recovery in the car market is not expected until late 2010.

Inchcape should be debt free by the end of the year and will report its 2009 figures on 10 March.

Top Director Buys

Inchcape (INCH) Director name: Mr Ken HannaAmount purchased: 330,000 @ 29.58p Value: £97,614

Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) Director name: Mr Brian CountAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 159.30p Value: £79,650

UK Select Trust Ltd. (UKT) Director name: Mr James M Le PelleyAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 127.50p Value: £63,750

Ludgate Environmental Fund (LEF) Director name: Mr John ShakeshaftAmount purchased: 55,445 @ 90.18p Value: £50,000

Novae Group (NVA) Director name: Mr John P Hastings-BassAmount purchased: 10,000 @ 294.95p Value: £29,495

Invocas (INVO) Director name: Mr David Roy MacmillanAmount purchased: 67,956 @ 26.00p Value: £17,669

Invocas (INVO) Director name: Mr David Roy MacmillanAmount purchased: 70,044 @ 25.00p Value: £17,511

Morgan Sindall (MGNS) Director name: Mr Adrian MartinAmount purchased: 2,000 @ 633.00p Value: £12,660

Symphony International Holdings (SIHL) Director name: Mr Anil ThadaniAmount purchased: 20,380 @ $0.58 Value: $11,820

Top Director Sells

Patsystems (PTS) Director name: Mr David Paul WebberAmount sold: 4,000,000 @ 21.00p Value: £840,000