Director deals: BATS chairman Burrows moves in for more shares

2nd Jan 2015 14:43

Although shares in British American Tobacco in late November hit an all-time high, the chairman of the company has delved into his savings for a major share purchase.Richard Burrows, who has been chairman since 2009 after a long career in the drinks business, including as chief executive of Pernod Ricard, spent a total of £176,017.He bought 5,000 shares at a price of 3,520.34p, adding to his existing 10,000 shares in the company.BAT shares ended 2014 at a price of £35, up from a January low below £29. When Burrows joined the company the shares were trading at below £20.This is despite ever-increasing taxes on tobacco, and with Chancellor George Osborne in his autumn statement saying the government was considering introducing a new levy on tobacco manufacturers and importers.Scott's Kestrel swoops in for more shares in KBCThe falling price of hydrocarbons has hit shares of oil majors hard and also not done much for the shares of those companies that service the sector.For example this has seen KBC Advanced Technologies dip from 120p to 90p since the end of July, despite the company seeing growing acceptance for its software and consultancy services in the oil and gas sector and the winning of its third largest contract ever in December.Kestrel Partners, an investment boutique co-founded by one of KBC's non-executive directors, Oliver Scott, on New Year's Eve bought almost £31,000 of shares at just under 89p.This was one of seven purchases from Kestrel in December that amounted to a total £550,000 spent in the month on KBC shares.Over the previous 11 months of 2014 Kestrel swooped in for £759,000-worth of shares, as the share price kept falling. At present, its combined stake represents 12.79% of the company.The lower price of oil could even be a catalyst for demand, as analysts at Equity Development speculated in December: "the lower oil price might actually galvanise some refineries and upstream producers (eg US shale) to invest more in KBC's technology that helps improve efficiency and reduce costs".Top Director BuysBritish American Tobacco (BATS) Director name: Mr Richard BurrowsAmount purchased: 5,000 @ 3,520.34p Value: £176,017