Ashtead Chairman buys shares after Q1 results

4th Sep 2012 17:29

Chris Cole, the non-executive Chairman at plant-hire group Ashtead, raised his stake in the firm on the same day that the company revealed it would beat its initial forecasts for the full year.Cole purchased 30,000 shares of the FTSE 250 firm at 315p each for a total of £94,500. The transaction brings his total shareholding to 132,082, equal to 0.02% of the issued share capital.Ashtead saw shares jump nearly 12% on Tuesday after saying that full-year results will be "materially ahead of our previous expectations". Underlying profit before tax in the first quarter rose 82% year-on-year while underlying revenues gained 21%. "Given this early stage of the recovery, we see further outperformance from re-rating as well as scope for further positive earnings surprises," said analyst Andrew Nussey from Peel Hunt. Top Director BuysAshtead Group (AHT) Director name: Mr Christopher ColeAmount purchased: 30,000 @ 315.00p Value: £94,500Paddy Power (PAP) Director name: Mr William Reeve Amount purchased: 1,000 @ € 55.87 Value: € 55,870Innovation Group (TIG) Director name: Mr Jane HallAmount purchased: 125,000 @ 20.00p Value: £25,000Pathfinder Minerals (PFP) Director name: Mr Nicholas TrewAmount purchased: 2,300,000 @ 0.85p Value: £19,550Top Director SellsEMIS Group (EMIS) Director name: Mr Phillip WoodrowAmount sold: 1,000,000 @ 700.00p Value: £7,000,000AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI) (AZEM) Director name: Mr Mike PowellAmount sold: 29,393 @ 312.00p Value: £91,706