LONDON (ShareCast) - Paul Walsh, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Diageo, the FTSE 100 beverage giant, has sold off a bumper-load of shares in the firm.

Walsh, who disposed of 90,000 shares at 1,500.00p each, made the transaction on February 13th, just a few days after the company reported an 8% rise in net sales for the half year ended December 31st.

Walsh, who has been CEO since September 2000, bought the shares, including another 10,000 which he has retained, in October 2008 at £8.77 through the exercising of share options. Selling them at 1500p will earn him £560,700 before tax from the sale.

The proceeds from the sale will supplement Walsh's base salary which in 2010 stood at £1,155,000, a level of remuneration which did not meet with the approval of all the shareholders at the company's Annual General Meeting (AGM) in October 2011; 20% of the votes cast at the AGM rejected the Directors' Remuneration report, up from 11.7% who voted against it in 2010.

According to the Daily Telegraph, The Co-Operative Asset Management company has been a regular critic of Diageo's executive remuneration policies, and has reportedly complained to the company about the unexacting nature of the earnings per share targets required to trigger share option awards.

The drinks firm, famous for its Johnnie Walker whisky, Smirnoff vodka and Guinness stout, reported net sales of £5,757m, up from £5,320m in the previous first half. This was 7% higher on an organic basis. Pre-tax profit increased by 15% from £1,612m to £1,860m.

The stock has gained over 26% in the past year and over 8% over the last month. Over the same periods, the beverage sector as a whole is up 23.2% and 8.5% respectively.

Top Director Buys

Mediterranean Oil & Gas (MOG)
Director name: Mr Miles Donnelly
Amount purchased: 360,000 @ 4.80p
Value: £17,280

Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC)
Director name: Mr Mark Hamlin
Amount purchased: 30,000 @ 38.30p
Value: £11,490

Chesnara (CSN)
Director name: Mr Terry Marris
Amount purchased: 4,195 @ 252.70p
Value: £10,601

Top Director Sells

Virgin Media Inc. (VMED)
Director name: Mr Andrew Cole
Amount sold: 116,000 @ 1,625.92p
Value: £1,886,067

Diageo (DGE)
Director name: Mr Paul S Walsh
Amount sold: 90,000 @ 1,500.00p
Value: £1,350,000

Utilico Emerging Markets Ltd. (UEM)
Director name: Mr Charles Jillings
Amount sold: 220,000 @ 157.00p
Value: £345,400

Chesnara (CSN)
Director name: Mr Terry Marris
Amount sold: 4,239 @ 252.00p
Value: £10,682

Chesnara (CSN)
Director name: Mr Terry Marris
Amount sold: 5,162 @ 193.75p
Value: £10,001

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