Morrison's new chief executive buys first shares

20th Mar 2015 14:59

The new chief executive of Morrison Supermarkets bought his first shares in the group after taking the helm on Monday.David Potts, who started his new job this week after 16 years working at Tesco, purchased 508,000 shares for an individual price of 205.85p, spending £1.045m.Shore Capital brokers said last month, when the name of the new boss was announced, that Potts's experience and expertise may bring about a much-needed turnaround in the supermarket's sales performance, and share price.The broker upgraded the UK grocer from 'hold' to 'buy', saying that the shares could outperform the sector in the near term, "and, with good execution, thereafter".However, the group last week reported a £792m loss before tax for 2014 as it wrote down the value of its stores by £1.3bn and announced 23 closures.Chairman Andrew Higginson said: "Last year's trading environment was tough, and we don't expect any change this year."Top Director BuysMorrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) Director name: Mr David T PottsAmount purchased: 508,000 @ 205.85p Value: £1,045,718Standard Chartered (STAN) Director name: Mr Peter A SandsAmount purchased: 18,266 @ 1,043.00p Value: £190,514Standard Chartered (STAN) Director name: Mr Viswanathan Shankar Amount purchased: 18,016 @ 1,043.00p Value: £187,907Standard Chartered (STAN) Director name: Mr Mike Rees Amount purchased: 16,606 @ 1,043.00p Value: £173,201Standard Chartered (STAN) Director name: Mr Jaspal Singh BindraAmount purchased: 15,313 @ 1,043.00p Value: £159,715Standard Chartered (STAN) Director name: Mr John PeaceAmount purchased: 13,183 @ 1,043.00p Value: £137,499Standard Chartered (STAN) Director name: Mr Andrew Nigel (Andy) HalfordAmount purchased: 11,624 @ 1,043.00p Value: £121,238Persimmon (PSN) Director name: Mr Jeffrey FairburnAmount purchased: 846 @ 1,762.20p Value: £14,908Top Director SellsCountrywide (CWD) Director name: Mr Grenville TurnerAmount sold: 1,358,639 @ 525.00p Value: £7,132,855Countrywide (CWD) Director name: Mr Jim ClarkeAmount sold: 455,183 @ 525.00p Value: £2,389,711CSR (CSR) Director name: Mr Joep van BeurdenAmount sold: 9,943 @ 859.12p Value: £85,422Travis Perkins (TPK) Director name: Mr Ian PreedyAmount sold: 4,069 @ 1,948.08p Value: £79,267CSR (CSR) Director name: Mr Will GardinerAmount sold: 6,981 @ 859.12p Value: £59,975CSR (CSR) Director name: Mr Chris LadasAmount sold: 4,699 @ 859.12p Value: £40,370