Cookson's Beeston buys £85k stake

There was some good news at last for Cookson as chairman Robert Beeston spent £85,000 on shares in the battered ceramics group.

The purchase of 75,000 shares at 113.7p each took the former chief executive of FKI's holding to 175,000, or nearly £200,000.

Yesterday's trading update sent the share plunging, taking their loss over the last six month to about 87%. They were trading just below 800p in May.

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Cookson said full year performance for 2008 is now expected to be below management's earlier expectations due to a sharp drop in steel demand.

It said in recent weeks the financial turmoil has impacted global steel production as demand in China dampened.

The weaker UK currency will increase reported trading profit by around 14% for the full year 2008, but due the weaker sterling, net debt is expected to be slightly higher at £706m at 30 June 2008.

"Trading performance in 2009 will be dependent upon the depth and duration of the global economic slowdown. Management has initiated a programme of appropriate actions across the group to take account of the current and anticipated slowdown, and will continue to act decisively to adapt the business to market conditions as they evolve," said the group.

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