Director deals: Chairmen of BATM and Dods splash the cash

6th Jan 2015 15:49

The chairs of two companies splashed the cash on Tuesday to show their belief in improving fortunes at both outfits.Gideon Chitayat, chairman of BATM Advanced Communications, a provider of telecoms and medical technology, dug deep into his pockets to spend £217,000 worth of shares.Chitayat, a serial chairman and adviser to Israeli firms and former Harvard and University of Pennsylvania professor, picked up the shares at 15.5p apiece, a penny above their 16-month low.The company's medical division continues to deliver rapid growth, but the telecoms division showed weaker than expected revenues in a November update as it continues to suffer from an ongoing decline in sales of its historic products and lengthening sales cycles for its newer offerings.A recent boardroom reshuffle, with chief financial officer Ofer Bar-Ner stepping up to chief operating officer, overseeing the medical division, and finance executive Moti Nagar taking over as CFO.House broker FinnCap said: "We welcome this move as it puts a very experienced senior manager in place over the medical division as it moves into profitability this year."Meanwhile, Cheryl Jones, chairman of AIM-listed Dods Group, forked out £140,000 to buy shares in the political publisher.Jones, also a serial chair, made her second purchase in as many months, after making a smaller £14,625 outlay pre-Christmas. This second purchase is at Dods' highest share price since September 2011.November's interim results for the group, for the six months to the end of September, showed early evidence of management's new focus on prioritising better-quality revenues, particularly on its events portfolio, with group revenues reduced by 9.3% to £8.4m but margins improved from 22% to 24.8%. Top Director BuysBATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) Director name: Professor Gideon Chitayat Amount purchased: 1,400,000 @ 15.50p Value: £217,000Dods (Group) (DODS) Director name: Ms Cheryl C JonesAmount purchased: 2,000,000 @ 7.00p Value: £140,000Tate & Lyle (TATE) Director name: Mr Javed AhmedAmount purchased: 13,687 @ 602.80p Value: £82,505Aberdeen New Dawn Investment Trust (ABD) Director name: Mr Susie RippingallAmount purchased: 12,500 @ 177.78p Value: £22,222Seneca Global Income & Growth Trust (SIGT) Director name: Mr Jimmy McCullochAmount purchased: 15,000 @ 135.00p Value: £20,250Utilico Emerging Markets Ltd (DI) (UEM) Director name: Mr Alexander E ZagoreosAmount purchased: 5,387 @ 187.00p Value: £10,074Top Director SellsKingfisher (KGF) Director name: Mr Kevin O'ByrneAmount sold: 26,000 @ 337.13p Value: £87,654