Next director sells into strength

06/01/2009 

The trading update from clothing retailer Next on Tuesday morning was well received, allowing the group's property director, Andrew Varley, to cash in at a good price.

Varley sold 10,000 shares at 1234.43p each, some way below the 1261p high for the day but still comfortably above Monday's closing value of 1091p.

The sale, which raised £123,440, reduces Varley's stake in Next to 69,887 shares, representing 0.036% of the issued share capital.

Next cheered the market by saying its full year profit forecast remains in line with City expectations of around £415m to £435m, despite posting a a 1.9% drop in sales in the half year to Christmas Eve.

Like-for-like sales in the 347 stores that were unaffected by new openings down 7%, within the 4% to 7% range the firm had predicted.


Top Director Buys

Smith & Nephew (SN.)
Director name: Mr David Illingworth
Amount purchased: 48,355 @ 436.85p
Value: £211,239

Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN)
Director name: Mr Donald Waters
Amount purchased: 37,000 @ 134.00p
Value: £49,580

Cryo-Save Group (CRYO)
Director name: Mr Werner Spinner
Amount purchased: 75,000 @ 32.00p
Value: £24,000

Worldspreads Group (WSPR)
Director name: Mr David Leonard
Amount purchased: 29,810 @ 51.00p
Value: £15,203

Hogg Robinson (HRG)
Director name: Mr John D Coombe
Amount purchased: 185,925 @ 5.40p
Value: £10,040


Top Director Sells

Imperial Energy Corporation (IEC)
Director name: Mr Peter M Levine
Amount sold: 782,410 @ 1,250.00p
Value: £9,780,125

Imperial Energy Corporation (IEC)
Director name: Mr Christopher Hopkinson
Amount sold: 391,204 @ 1,250.00p
Value: £4,890,050

Imperial Energy Corporation (IEC)
Director name: Mrs Ekaterina Kirsanova
Amount sold: 260,802 @ 1,250.00p
Value: £3,260,025

Imperial Energy Corporation (IEC)
Director name: Mr Denis Kurochkin
Amount sold: 97,800 @ 1,250.00p
Value: £1,222,500

Imperial Energy Corporation (IEC)
Director name: Mr John Hamilton
Amount sold: 86,065 @ 1,250.00p
Value: £1,075,812

Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN)
Director name: Mr Martin J Gilbert
Amount sold: 750,000 @ 129.00p
Value: £967,500

Smith & Nephew (SN.)
Director name: Mr David Illingworth
Amount sold: 20,075 @ 436.85p
Value: £87,698

Next (NXT)
Director name: Mr Andrew John Varley
Amount sold: 10,000 @ 1,234.40p
Value: £123,440

NXT - Next

NXT

Latest Prices
Name	Price	%
Next	1227.00	+12.47
Aberdeen Asset Management	124.00	+1.02
Hogg Robinson	6.50	+24.28
Imperial Energy Corporation	1255.00	-0.16
Smith & Nephew	492.50	+6.03
Worldspreads Group	57.25	+0.00