InterContinental Hotels chief exec stocks up

A round-up of the biggest director deals today so far.

Andrew Cosslett, the chief executive of the Holiday Inn operator InterContinental Hotels, has spent about £276,000 lifting his stake in the company.

He bought 30,676 shares at 901p a time.

His purchase comes on the back of a strong rise in the share price of InterContinental, which has benefited from improved economic conditions following an extremely difficult period for the hotel sector.

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Last month InterContinental continued to see revenue per available room (revPAR, a key indicator of hotel companies' performance) slide in the third quarter.

RevPAR in the third quarter of 2009 fell 15.2% at constant currency rates.

Things improved slightly after the end of the reporting period with October seeing a 13.5% decline in revPAR, with a 14.5% decline in the Americas, a 12.7% fall in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and a 9.9% tail-off in the Asia Pacific region.

Cosslett's share purchase was not his only dealing activity.

He also exercised options over 157,300 shares under an executive share plan selling 127,976 at 620p a time.

Following these transactions, Cosslett, who has been chief executive since February 2005, has about 1.34m shares.

Top Director Buys

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Director name: Mr Andrew CosslettAmount purchased: 30,676 @ 901.89p Value: £276,664

Intec Telecom (ITL) Director name: Mr Robin TaylorAmount purchased: 31,543 @ 104.48p Value: £32,956

Intec Telecom (ITL) Director name: Mr Andrew TaylorAmount purchased: 27,509 @ 104.48p Value: £28,741

Mwana Africa (MWA) Director name: Mr Stuart MorrisAmount purchased: 100,000 @ 13.90p Value: £13,900

Top Director Sells

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Director name: Mr Andrew CosslettAmount sold: 127,976 @ 901.89p Value: £1,154,203

Jardine Matheson (Singapore) (JAR) Director name: Mr Simon L KeswickAmount sold: 7,600 @ $29.46 Value: $223,912