888 director sells majority of stake despite strong 2012 results

14th Mar 2013 16:31

John Anderson, an independent non-Executive Director of 888, the online casino and online poker firm, has sold 697,500 pounds-worth of shares in the company the same day the group unveiled a special dividend following a strong full year performance. The director, who was previously the Chief Executive Officer of the group, traded in 450,000 shares at 155p each, significantly reducing his stake to just 138,869 shares. The group announced Wednesday that it had increased revenues for the year ended December 31st to $376m from $331m the previous year. A final dividend of 4.5 cents per ordinary share per the group's payout ratio has been reinstated and due to strong performance the board has recommended an additional one-off dividend of 2.0 cents per share, bringing the total dividend per share for the year to 9.0 cents per share. The group said current trading has continued to be strong in the new fiscal year across all key performance indicators including new customer recruitment, deposits and bets. Average daily revenue during the quarter until March 9th was up 8.0% from the same period last year, led by Casino and Poker. Bingo trading conditions continue to be challenging as are the current currency headwinds. Top Director BuysIntu Properties (INTU) Director name: Mr John Whittaker Amount purchased: 90,000 @ 331.10p Value: £297,990Witan Inv Trust (WTAN) Director name: Mr Andrew BellAmount purchased: 10,000 @ 594.50p Value: £59,450Volex (VLX) Director name: Mr Ray WalshAmount purchased: 32,286 @ 97.00p Value: £31,317Top Director Sells888 Holdings (888) Director name: Mr John AndersonAmount sold: 450,000 @ 155.00p Value: £697,500Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) Director name: Mr Paul BoultonAmount sold: 11,000 @ 295.60p Value: £32,516Croda International (CRDA) Director name: Mr Keith Layden Amount sold: 400 @ 2,684.54p Value: £10,738NR