BG finance director cashes in some chips

25th Mar 2011 18:26

BG has been a star performer among the giant oil and gas companies, thanks to its stake in the huge oil finds being made offshore Brazil and its finance director has decided to take profits on his stake in the company. Barely a week goes by without any new discovery in the Santos basin, with BG's own reserves in the region now said to be in excess of 10bn barrels.The oil group's share price reflects the goods news, having nearly quadrupled over the past seven years. Given the run of good drilling news, it is perhaps not surprising that BG directors are infrequent sellers. Finance director Ashley Almanza, though, has decided to cash in some chips, raising £5.3m through a combined sale with his wife of 350,000 shares at £15.192 each.Almanza's previous sale was a batch of 86,000 shares last September. The price he received then was about £10.73, some 30% lower and indicating how well BG has done with its Brazil investment in the meantime. Following this latest sale Almanza holds 126,012 BG shares. He would have done even better if he had managed to complete Thursday's share sale a day earlier as BG was one of main casualties of the Chancellor's raid on North Sea oil companies. The government decided to increase the tax paid on North Sea oil and gas production to subsidise a 1p a litre cut in fuel duty. Analysts suggest BG Group will be among the most impacted as the North Sea accounts for almost one-quarter of total operations. Top Director BuysBritish Land Co (BLND) Director name: Mr Simon BorrowsAmount purchased: 300,000 @ 565.80p Value: £1,697,400PureCircle Ltd. (DI) (PURE) Director name: Mr Magomet MalsagovAmount purchased: 200,000 @ 108.00p Value: £216,000Coral Products (CRU) Director name: Mr Joseph GrimmondAmount purchased: 830,000 @ 11.04p Value: £91,632Leni Gas & Oil (LGO) Director name: Mr Neil RitsonAmount purchased: 2,500,000 @ 2.70p Value: £67,500Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) Director name: Mr John PlutheroAmount purchased: 100,000 @ 54.48p Value: £54,480Marston's (MARS) Director name: Mr Robin RowlandAmount purchased: 52,083 @ 96.00p Value: £50,000Quayle Munro Holdings (QYM) Director name: Mr Andrew M. L. TuckeyAmount purchased: 7,500 @ 650.00p Value: £48,750Octopus Second AIM VCT (OSEC) Director name: Mr Keith Richard MullinsAmount purchased: 54,548 @ 73.33p Value: £40,000John Menzies (MNZS) Director name: Mr Craig SmythAmount purchased: 6,061 @ 485.50p Value: £29,426John Menzies (MNZS) Director name: Mr Craig SmythAmount purchased: 6,055 @ 485.50p Value: £29,397Top Director SellsBG Group (BG.) Director name: Mr Ashley AlmanzaAmount sold: 350,000 @ 1,519.20p Value: £5,317,200Lo-Q (LOQ) Director name: Mr Leonard SimAmount sold: 1,000,000 @ 154.00p Value: £1,540,000Software Radio Technology (SRT) Director name: Mr Simon Francis RogersAmount sold: 600,000 @ 39.50p Value: £237,000Henderson Group (HGG) Director name: Mr Shirley Garrood Amount sold: 50,000 @ 165.62p Value: £82,810Artemis Alpha Trust (ATS) Director name: Mr Andrew DalrympleAmount sold: 11,000 @ 319.00p Value: £35,090Trinity Mirror (TNI) Director name: Mrs Sylvia (Sly) BaileyAmount sold: 58,737 @ 46.75p Value: £27,460John Menzies (MNZS) Director name: Mr Paul B DollmanAmount sold: 4,337 @ 481.00p Value: £20,861John Menzies (MNZS) Director name: Mr Craig SmythAmount sold: 3,763 @ 481.00p Value: £18,100Trinity Mirror (TNI) Director name: Mr Vijay VaghelaAmount sold: 30,514 @ 46.75p Value: £14,265