TUI directors make the most of rising share price

5th Dec 2012 16:33

Directors at FTSE 250 package tour operator TUI Travel have made the most of the recent rise in the company's share price to sell off shares in the group. Peter Long, TUI's Chief Executive Officer, sold 748,729 shares, Johan Lundgren, Deputy Chief Executive, sold 350,000 shares, and William Waggott, the Chief Financial Officer, sold 120,000. All of the shares were traded in at 277.21p each. Long has retained an interest in 10.43m shares and earned just under £2.1m from the transaction. The shares were sold on Tuesday, the same day the company revealed that its winter 2012/13 season has got off to a "very encouraging" start.The company reported revenue of £14.46bn in the year to September 30th, down 2.0% from £14.69bn the year before, as organic growth of 2.0% was offset by a foreign currency translation impact of -4.0%. Pre-tax profit rose 8.0% from £360m to £390m, helped by record Mainstream underlying operating profits (on a constant currency basis) in all markets with the exception of France and Southern Europe. Growth was also supplemented by £42m cost savings through the business improvement programme. However, TUI's French operation reported an underlying operating loss of £47m, compared with a loss of £53m last year. The company reduced capacity by 34% in the region, with sizeable reductions in loss-making capacity to Egypt and a number of long-haul destinations. Top Director BuysF&C Asset Management (FCAM) Director name: Mr Edward BramsonAmount purchased: 75,000 @ 99.24p Value: £74,430Songbird Estates (SBD) Director name: Mr Alexander Heini Philip MidgenAmount purchased: 31,494 @ 113.39p Value: £35,711Monitise (MONI) Director name: Mr Duncan J McIntyreAmount purchased: 100,000 @ 30.00p Value: £30,000Fidelity Special Values (FSV) Director name: Mr Andrew IrvineAmount purchased: 5,000 @ 568.00p Value: £28,400Caterpillar Inc. (CTA) Director name: Mr Eugene V FifeAmount purchased: 160 @ € 65.96 Value: € 10,553Macau Property Opportunities Fund Ltd. (MPO) Director name: Mr Christopher RussellAmount purchased: 11,911 @ 112.00p Value: £13,340Songbird Estates (SBD) Director name: Mr Alexander Heini Philip MidgenAmount purchased: 9,479 @ 113.05p Value: £10,716Top Director SellsTUI Travel (TT.) Director name: Mr Peter James LongAmount sold: 748,729 @ 277.21p Value: £2,075,552TUI Travel (TT.) Director name: Dr Volker BottcherAmount sold: 407,276 @ 278.10p Value: £1,132,635Next Fifteen Communications (NFC) Director name: Mr Tim DysonAmount sold: 781,004 @ 100.00p Value: £781,004TUI Travel (TT.) Director name: Dr Volker BottcherAmount sold: 101,819 @ 278.10p Value: £283,159