Director dealings: Ocado CFO and Majestic veteran cash in

Ocado chief financial officer Duncan Tatton-Brown disposed of more than £4m worth of shares award to him by the online grocer's bonus scheme on Friday.

Tatton-Brown, who joined Ocado's board in September 2012, sold the shares in two separate transactions on the London Stock Exchange.

In the first, Tatton-Brown offloaded 365,000 shares awarded to him under tranche one of Ocado's joint share ownership scheme at an average price of 876p for a total of £3.19m.

He sold a further 100,000 shares under tranche two of the same scheme at an average cost of 866p for a total of £0.87m.

Last month, Ocado's shares hit an all-time high of above £11. Having since retreated a little, as of 1620 BST on Friday, Ocado shares were up 1% on the day to 1,028.50p.

Earlier this week, Ocado reported a lower operating profit than expected for the first half of the year as the online grocery specialist's costs mounted from the opening of its vast new robotic warehouse in south London.

Recently promoted to the FTSE 100 index, the group warned on Tuesday that full-year pre-tax losses would be higher than City analysts were currently estimating due to additional management incentive charges from its surging share price in recent months.

For half-year to 3 June, Ocado grew revenue from its own grocery retail activities 11.7% to £736.6m, which compared to an expected range of 10-15%.

Meanwhile, Majestic Wine non-exxecutive Justin Apthorp, who has been on the board since 2006, and his wife sold £2.5m shares in the retailer at a price of 460p.

The company's shares earlier this month almost hit 500p, a level not sustained since 2014, on the back of June's return to full year profits, even though management warned that it expects the market to remain tough.

The company made a profit of £8.3m in the year to 2 April versus a loss of £1.5m the year before, as revenue rose 2.3% to £476.1m. Meanwhile, the final dividend per share was lifted to 5.2p from 3.6p in 2017.

Chief executive Rowan Gormley said: "Naked Wines continues to storm ahead with underlying sales growth of 11.3% in the year. The business has grown considerably in the exciting US and Australian markets and has proved that the digital customer acquisition channel is delivering high quality new customers in addition to our traditional partner channel.

"If the UK is headed for a retail crisis, as some commentators are suggesting, then we are planning for a great crisis. We founded Naked Wines during the financial crisis of 2008 and proved that investing in acquiring customers and generating loyalty through great products and service, will drive profitable growth even in a tough market."

Top Director Buys

Gyg (GYG)
Director name: Millott,Remy
Amount purchased: 103,000 @ 72.50p
Value: £74,675.00

Eden Research (EDEN)
Director name: Abrey,Alexander John
Amount purchased: 179,664 @ 12.22p
Value: £21,954.94

Eden Research (EDEN)
Director name: M. Smith,Sean
Amount purchased: 92,848 @ 11.90p
Value: £11,048.91

Aminex (AEX)
Director name: Bhattacherjee,Jay
Amount purchased: 492,341 @ 2.01p
Value: £9,891.13

Blackrock Throgmorton Trust (THRG)
Director name: Beart,Simon
Amount purchased: 132 @ 564.00p
Value: £744.48

Blackrock Throgmorton Trust (THRG)
Director name: Beart,Simon
Amount purchased: 132 @ 564.00p
Value: £744.48

Aviva (AV.)
Director name: Briggs,Andrew
Amount purchased: 32 @ 487.98p
Value: £156.15

Charles Stanley Group (CAY)
Director name: Coutts,Ben Money
Amount purchased: 40 @ 374.40p
Value: £149.76

Charles Stanley Group (CAY)
Director name: Abberley,Paul
Amount purchased: 40 @ 374.40p
Value: £149.76

Charles Stanley Group (CAY)
Director name: Teper,Gary
Amount purchased: 40 @ 374.40p
Value: £149.76

Top Director Sells

Ocado Group (OCDO)
Director name: Tatton-Brown,Duncan
Amount sold: 365,000 @ 876.00p
Value: £3,197,400.08

Majestic Wine (WINE)
Director name: Apthorp,Justin James
Amount sold: 400,000 @ 460.00p
Value: £1,839,999.96

Ocado Group (OCDO)
Director name: Tatton-Brown,Duncan
Amount sold: 100,000 @ 866.00p
Value: £865,999.98

Obtala Limited (OBT)
Director name: Pelham,Miles C
Amount sold: 9,000,000 @ 8.00p
Value: £719,999.98

Majestic Wine (WINE)
Director name: Apthorp,Justin James
Amount sold: 150,000 @ 460.00p
Value: £689,999.99

Young & Co's Brewery 'a' Shares (YNGA)
Director name: Sligo-Young,Torquil
Amount sold: 18,000 @ 1,680.00p
Value: £302,399.99

Young & Co's Brewery 'a' Shares (YNGA)
Director name: Sligo-Young,Torquil
Amount sold: 2,000 @ 1,680.00p
Value: £33,600.00

Eden Research (EDEN)
Director name: Abrey,Alexander John
Amount sold: 125,000 @ 11.60p
Value: £14,500.00