Booker chief exec buys in bulk

Booker chief executive Charles Wilson bought 2m shares in the cash and carry operator today, spending £440,000.

Following the purchase, which was made at 22p a share, he now owns about 8.3% of the company.

Fellow board member Kevin Lyon took 200,000 shares, also at 22p a time, doubling his holding to 400,000 shares.

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Booker, which is the UK's largest wholesaler, said last month it had performed ahead of expectations for the full year, with full year profits up 27% to £36.2m on sales that rose 2.3% to £3.1bn, but warned that challenges remain.

Market conditions over the past year have been challenging due to cooling in the economy and the smoking ban in public places, the company observed.

Speaking about the results, Wilson said: "It has been a year of steady delivery for Booker. Customer satisfaction has improved, sales have increased, operating profits are up 29%, net debt is down 38% and we integrated Blueheath. We made good progress, but there is a lot more to do."

Booker merged with Blueheath, which sells groceries to retail and leisure outlets in the UK, in June 2007.

Wilson was appointed chief executive of Booker in 2005, having become an executive director in 1998. He has also been an executive director with the clothing retailer Arcadia, which owns the Burton and Dorothy Perkins chains, and Marks and Spencer.

Elsewhere in directors' deals, Dominos Pizza announced this afternoon that two directors sold a combined total of nearly £20m in shares in the company.

Non-executive director Nigel Wray sold 9.5m shares at 180p a go, or a total of £17.1m, meaning he now has just less than 27m shares, about 16.75% of the company.

Executive chairman Stephen Hemsley sold 1m shares at the same price, taking £1.8m, and now has just more than 6m shares.

The announcement was made following heavy falls in the company's share price this morning.

Top Director Buys

Booker Group (BOK)

Director name: Mr Charles Wilson

Amount purchased: 2,000,000 @ 22.00p

Value: £440,000

Dolphin Capital Investors (DCI)

Director name: Mr Miltos Kambourides

Amount purchased: 300,000 @ 108.50p

Value: £325,500

Marwyn Materials (MMAT)

Director name: Mr David Williams

Amount purchased: 1,000,000 @ 15.00p

Value: £150,000

Anglo American (AAL)

Director name: Sir CK Chow

Amount purchased: 4,000 @ 3,476.00p

Value: £139,040

Integrated Asset Management (IAM)

Director name: Mr Detlef Bierbaum

Amount purchased: 200,000 @ 57.00p

Value: £114,000

Vyke Communications (VYKE)

Director name: Mr Tommy B Jensen

Amount purchased: 119,960 @ 87.00p

Value: £104,365

Monitise (MONI)

Director name: Mr Duncan J McIntyre

Amount purchased: 500,000 @ 12.00p

Value: £60,000

Livermore Investments (LIV)

Director name: Mr Noam Lanir

Amount purchased: 200,000 @ 28.00p

Value: £56,000

Mediterranean Oil & Gas (MOG)

Director name: Mr Michael Bonte-Friedheim

Amount purchased: 30,000 @ 166.50p

Value: £49,950

Booker Group (BOK)

Director name: Mr Kevin Lyon

Amount purchased: 200,000 @ 22.00p

Value: £44,000

Top Director Sells

Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM)

Director name: Mr Nigel Wray

Amount sold: 9,500,000 @ 180.00p

Value: £17,100,000

Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM)

Director name: Mr Stephen Hemsley

Amount sold: 1,000,000 @ 180.00p

Value: £1,800,000

Moss Bros (MOSB)

Director name: Mr Rowland Gee

Amount sold: 2,000,000 @ 45.00p

Value: £900,000

Majestic Wine (MJW)

Director name: Mr Timothy F How

Amount sold: 94,200 @ 211.00p

Value: £198,762

Vyke Communications (VYKE)

Director name: Mr Kjetil Langland Bohn

Amount sold: 119,960 @ 87.00p

Value: £104,365

Hornby (HRN)

Director name: Mr Frank Martin

Amount sold: 19,000 @ 159.80p

Value: £30,362

Hornby (HRN)

Director name: Mr J W Stansfield

Amount sold: 17,135 @ 159.80p

Value: £27,382

Hornby (HRN)

Director name: Mr Frits Passet

Amount sold: 13,513 @ 159.80p

Value: £21,594

Hornby (HRN)

Director name: Mr Micheal Walters

Amount sold: 9,600 @ 159.80p

Value: £15,341

Hornby (HRN)

Director name: Mr Nicholas Cole

Amount sold: 8,991 @ 159.80p

Value: £14,368