Wetherspoon CEO trades in 6,000 shares days after margins disappoint

21st Jan 2013 16:28

The Chief Executive Officer of pub group JD Wetherspoon has sold 6,000 shares in the group less than a week after it revealed a drop in its half-year operating margin. John Hutson traded in the shares at 502p a time, pocketing £30,120 before tax. The group said it expects its operating margin for the half year ending January 27th to come in around 1.1% lower than the previous year at 8.2%. This was as a result of slightly-higher-than-expected increases in costs in areas such as tax, utilities, labour and bar and food supplies, combined with increased marketing costs. The group's figures were otherwise moving in the right direction, with year-to-date (24 weeks to January 13th) like-for-like sales up 7.6% and total sale up 11.2%. Hutson now holds 37,103 ordinary shares in the company. Top Director SellsDiploma (DPLM) Director name: Mr Bruce ThompsonAmount sold: 105,000 @ 525.00p Value: £551,250Diploma (DPLM) Director name: Mr Bruce ThompsonAmount sold: 25,000 @ 525.00p Value: £131,250Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) Director name: Mr John HutsonAmount sold: 6,000 @ 502.00p Value: £30,120Diploma (DPLM) Director name: Mr Nigel LingwoodAmount sold: 5,400 @ 525.00p Value: £28,350NR