Director dealings: Bodycote sale follows mixed results

One of the family of Bodycote finance director David Landless has sold more than £332,000 worth of shares in the company as they trade just shy of 11-month highs.

Margaret Landless sold 55,335 shares in the heat treatment group at a price of 600.5159p apiece.

Late last month, the company announced half year results that showed sales down 3% to £291m amid challenging market conditions and profit before tax down 9% to £48.1m mainly due to the impact of a softer oil & gas sector.

However, the interim dividend was raised 4% to 5.0p and solid underlying margins.

Looking ahead, while there was some lack of visibility, management expected growth in aerospace and automotive markets to continue and the sequential decline in oil & gas activity to have largely abated.

Although demand in general industrial markets had been softer than expected and improvements were not anticipated in the second half, the softer pound was likely to offset this.

Top Director Buys

Games Workshop Group (GAW)
Director name: O'Donnell ,Elaine
Amount purchased: 1,800 @ 541.46p
Value: £9,746.28

Games Workshop Group (GAW)
Director name: O'Donnell ,Elaine
Amount purchased: 1,793 @ 543.36p
Value: £9,742.44

Talktalk Telecom Group (TALK)
Director name: Torrens,Iain
Amount purchased: 132 @ 225.16p
Value: £297.21

Talktalk Telecom Group (TALK)
Director name: Harding,Dido
Amount purchased: 132 @ 225.16p
Value: £297.21

Sthree (STHR)
Director name: Smith,Alex
Amount purchased: 74 @ 255.00p
Value: £188.70

Sthree (STHR)
Director name: Elden,Gary
Amount purchased: 73 @ 255.00p
Value: £186.15

Balfour Beatty (BBY)
Director name: Quinn,Leo
Amount purchased: 62 @ 244.20p
Value: £151.40

Sig (SHI)
Director name: Mitchell,Stuart
Amount purchased: 137 @ 110.11p
Value: £150.85

Sig (SHI)
Director name: Robertson,Douglas
Amount purchased: 136 @ 110.11p
Value: £149.75

Petrofac Ltd. (PFC)
Director name: Weller,TimÂ
Amount purchased: 15 @ 834.00p
Value: £125.10

Top Director Sells

Bodycote (BOY)
Director name: Landless,David F
Amount sold: 55,335 @ 600.52p
Value: £332,295.47

Serco Group (SRP)
Director name: Cockburn,Angus
Amount sold: 11,071 @ 130.20p
Value: £14,414.44