Anite directors stock up after profit warning

31st Oct 2013 16:22

Directors at Anite made a round of share purchases on Wednesday, the biggest of which was made by Chairman Clay Brendish and Non-Executive David Hurst-Brown. Brenish acquired 28,250 shares at 91.00p, costing him a total of £25,708, while Hurst-Brown bought up 50,000 shares at 89.50p for a total of £44,750. A further 27,250 shares were taken up by Paul Taylor and another 19,969 were bought by Patrick De Smedt, both also Non-Executives. The acquisitions come two weeks after the wireless testing group warned sales and profits were being held back due to slower mobile handset testing activity. Although management stressed that its order book had increased, it cautioned that first half revenues from handset testing were likely to be around 25% lower than the £40.5m produced in the comparative period last year and thus the unit would only achieve profit break-even in the period. Chief Executive Christopher Humphrey said this was due to "unusual market conditions in the mobile industry" during the period and that it had not changed the board's fundamental view that demand drivers for its services remained in place.He said Anite continued to be at "the early stage of the LTE [fourth generation, or 4G] technology rollout" and had not affected the board's confidence in the market opportunity and its market position. "We believe that the second half for handset testing will be materially improved on the first half. We expect to exit the year on a strong underlying run rate which will allow us to continue to progress in the longer term."A predicted improvement in the second half would not compensate for the first half shortfall, Anite acknowledged, with second half handset testing revenues expected to be broadly in line with the £46.5m achieved in the second half of 2012.Top Director BuysTungsten Corporation (TUNG) Director name: Mr Michael Alan SpencerAmount purchased: 25,000 @ 225.75p Value: £56,438Forte Energy NL (FTE) Director name: Mr Mark ReillyAmount purchased: 12,500,000 @ 0.40p Value: £50,000Anite (AIE) Director name: Mr David Hurst-BrownAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 89.50p Value: £44,750Rurelec (RUR) Director name: Mr Andrew J. S. MorrisAmount purchased: 337,700 @ 13.25p Value: £44,745Renewable Energy Generation Ltd. (WIND) Director name: Mr Andrew WhalleyAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 78.40p Value: £39,200Anite (AIE) Director name: Mr Clayton BrendishAmount purchased: 28,250 @ 91.00p Value: £25,708Anite (AIE) Director name: Mr Paul R TaylorAmount purchased: 27,250 @ 91.00p Value: £24,798Anite (AIE) Director name: Mr Patrick De Smedt Amount purchased: 19,969 @ 89.62p Value: £17,896Top Director SellsNetcall (NET) Director name: Mr Henrik BangAmount sold: 2,000,000 @ 40.00p Value: £800,000Fidessa Group (FDSA) Director name: Mr Andy MalpassAmount sold: 25,000 @ 2,026.00p Value: £506,500Ricardo (RCDO) Director name: Mr Dave ShemmansAmount sold: 72,644 @ 600.74p Value: £436,402Fidessa Group (FDSA) Director name: Mr Chris AspinwallAmount sold: 13,759 @ 2,026.00p Value: £278,757Central Asia Metals (CAML) Director name: Mr Howard Nicholson Amount sold: 158,173 @ 160.00p Value: £253,077Ricardo (RCDO) Director name: Mr Mark GarrettAmount sold: 16,521 @ 600.74p Value: £99,248Gresham House (GHE) Director name: Mr Derek Lucie-SmithAmount sold: 20,000 @ 312.00p Value: £62,400NR