LONDON (ShareCast) - Late on Tuesday afternoon it was announced that the Chief Executive of RBS Insurance, Paul Geddes, and the Chief Executive of RBS Markets and International Banking, John Hourican, have both sold shares in the government-owned lender.

Geddes sold 39,489 ordinary shares on Monday at 245.71p each, while Hourican ditched 193,909 for 247.05p on the same day.

The sales were made on the same day it was rumoured that the bank could start the process of spinning off its Direct Line Insurance Group by the end of this week.

Quoting persons close to the discussions, news agency Bloomberg claimed RBS is poised to sell around a quarter of Direct Line through a stock market flotation to generate around £1.0bn, although no decision has yet been made about either timing or the valuation of the flotation.

RBS was ordered by the European Union to sell the insurance unit after the bank received state aid.


It appears to be a case of all hands on deck at fashion retailer Burberry this week, with nine directors purchasing shares on Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Tuesday the company issued a profit warning, saying profits would be at the lower end of expectations this year, which sent its share price plunging 22%.

Of the purchases, the largest were made by Chief Executive Officer Angela Ahrendts and Chairman Sir John Peace.

Ahrendts bought up 50,000 shares for 1,086.00p each, totalling £543,000, while Peace added 20,000 to his holding, at 1,088.00p a pop, for which he paid a total of £217,600.

In its announcement on Tuesday, Adrendts said the firm was taking steps to cut costs and maintain short-term profitability, added: "We are tightly managing discretionary costs and taking appropriate actions to protect short term profitability, while continuing to execute on our proven five key strategies," she said.


Top Director Buys

Burberry Group (BRBY)
Director name: Ms Angela Ahrendts
Amount purchased: 50,000 @ 1,086.00p
Value: £543,000

Burberry Group (BRBY)
Director name: Mr John Peace
Amount purchased: 20,000 @ 1,088.00p
Value: £217,600

Croda International (CRDA)
Director name: Mr Sean Christie
Amount purchased: 5,000 @ 2,429.00p
Value: £121,450

Burberry Group (BRBY)
Director name: Mr Philip Bowman
Amount purchased: 10,000 @ 1,101.00p
Value: £110,100

Tribal Group (TRB)
Director name: Mr Keith Evans
Amount purchased: 101,160 @ 91.93p
Value: £92,996

Burberry Group (BRBY)
Director name: Ms Stephanie George
Amount purchased: 5,000 @ 1,140.23p
Value: £57,012

Burberry Group (BRBY)
Director name: Ms Stacey Cartwright
Amount purchased: 5,000 @ 1,100.00p
Value: £55,000

Tribal Group (TRB)
Director name: Mr Steve Breach
Amount purchased: 50,204 @ 91.63p
Value: £46,002

Burberry Group (BRBY)
Director name: Mr Ian Carter
Amount purchased: 4,000 @ 1,088.00p
Value: £43,520

Burberry Group (BRBY)
Director name: Mr David A Tyler
Amount purchased: 2,000 @ 1,104.50p
Value: £22,090


Top Director Sells

Ebiquity (EBQ)
Director name: Ms Sarah Jane Thomson
Amount sold: 3,000,000 @ 90.00p
Value: £2,700,000

NR

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