LONDON (ShareCast) - Jason Gissing, the out-going Commercial Director of Ocado who co-founded the online grocery group in 2000, sold over 15m pounds-worth of shares in the company on the same day he announced his resignation.

Gissing, who is stepping down at the group’s annual general meeting in May, offloaded 3.05m shares on Tuesday as the group also announced its annual results.

The 0.52% stake was sold at a price of 498.75p per share, raising a total of £15.21m.

The sale left him with just under 15m shares in the company, equal to a 2.56% interest. His residual stake is worth around £80m at current share prices.

Ocado said that Gissing would be leaving to spend more time with his family and “also has a passion for various environmental and social concerns”.

The firm, which signed a "transformational" agreement with supermarket group WM Morrison last year to help roll-out its own online delivery service, reported gross sales of £852.4m during the 52 weeks ended December 1st, up 18.6% on the year before.

However, the loss before tax totalled £12.5m, compared with a loss of just £0.5m in 2012, as administrative expenses and other costs soared.

The company also said that Non-Executive Director Robert Gorrie also made a sale on Tuesday, shedding 275,000 shares at 501.8p a pop, raising £1.38m.

The deals came after an exceptional run in the stock over the past 12 months, rising around 430% from February 2013. Since the start of 2014, the shares have risen 24%.



Top Director Buys

ARM Holdings (ARM)
Director name: Mr Stuart J Chambers
Amount purchased: 10,000 @ 904.00p
Value: £90,400

Sound Oil (SOU)
Director name: Mr Simon Howard Davies
Amount purchased: 1,866,667 @ 4.60p
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APC Technology Group (APC)
Director name: Mr Leonard Seelig
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Top Director Sells

Ocado Group (OCDO)
Director name: Mr Jason Gissing
Amount sold: 3,050,000 @ 498.75p
Value: £15,211,875

M. P. Evans Group (MPE)
Director name: Mr James Derek Shaw
Amount sold: 20,000 @ 435.00p
Value: £87,000

BC

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