Thorntons board grow stakes as investors sell on poor Q3

30th Apr 2014 15:37

The Chief Executive and Finance Director of chocolatier Thorntons each purchased 20,000 shares in the group on Wednesday after it reported a softening of third quarter sales.Jonathan Hart, the group's Chief Executive, paid 120.50p a share spending a total of £24,100 and taking his total stake to 222,155 shares. Meanwhile, Finance Director Michael Killick paid slightly less for his shares, spending 115.75p-a-share for a total of £23,150. His stake in the company rose to 275,000 shares. The sales came as the chocolate retailing chain's shares fell sharply, hit by its report of a 7.6% reduction in the 15 weeks to April 26th against the same period last year.The company said this was due to the combined effect of early spring deliveries in the preceding quarter, slower sales through February and March in the UK Commercial channel and the cumulative effect of planned store closures. Hart, pictured, said: "Despite this third quarter result we are satisfied with the overall performance of the business for the year to date and we look forward to our UK Commercial channel returning to growth in our short final quarter. "The board remains confident that Thorntons will perform in line with market expectations for the full year and we continue to be confident that our transformation is on track and our strategy is appropriate and working."Top Director BuysThorntons (THT) Director name: Mr Jonathan HartAmount purchased: 20,000 @ 11,950.00p Value: £2,390,000Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) Director name: Mr Adrian LiAmount purchased: 10,000 @ 2,290.00p Value: £229,000St. Modwen Properties (SMP) Director name: Mr Richard Stephen MullyAmount purchased: 20,000 @ 366.00p Value: £73,200Sinclair Is Pharma (SPH) Director name: Mr Robert Stuart SwansonAmount purchased: 154,225 @ 30.75p Value: £47,424Whitbread (WTB) Director name: Ms Susan Taylor MartinAmount purchased: 975 @ 4,083.75p Value: £39,817Thorntons (THT) Director name: Mr Michael Killick Amount purchased: 20,000 @ 115.75p Value: £23,150Jupiter US Smaller Companies (JUS) Director name: Mr Clive ParrittAmount purchased: 3,000 @ 615.00p Value: £18,450Top Director SellsMoss Bros Group (MOSB) Director name: Mr Brian BrickAmount sold: 1,564,006 @ 115.00p Value: £1,798,607Moss Bros Group (MOSB) Director name: Mr Robin A K W PiggottAmount sold: 228,340 @ 115.00p Value: £262,591Seeing Machines Ltd. (SEE) Director name: Mr Michael Gerald RobertsAmount sold: 2,190,000 @ 6.25p Value: £136,875NR