LONDON (ShareCast) - Since falling below 40p in the height of the financial crisis, shares in Hutchison China MediTech (Hutchison Chi-Med) have climbed and climbed and climbed more than 3,000% but executive chairman Simon To seems to believe they can ascend yet higher.
To, the founder and managing director of the traditionals Chinese medicines (TCM) arm of Hutchison Whampoa, the Hong Kong conglomerate whose wide range of assets also includes UK mobile phone operator 3, has shelled out £0.55m in shares in the China-based healthcare outfit at a price of 1,350p apiece.

To has been with parent Hutchison China for over thirty years, building its business from a small trading company to a billion dollar investment group, and was instrumental in the AIM flotation of Hutchison Chi-Med in 2006.

Hutchison Whampoa still owns more than two thirds of the Chi-Med arm and To's purchase is his only personal direct stake in the London-listed business.

Elsewhere, two top directors of budget airline Easyjet have both raised over £2m each after selling shares awarded under the group's 2011 long-term incentive plan (LTIP), taking advantage of the stock's impressive rise over the past three years.

The LTIP awards were granted in March 2011, based on a share price at the time of 337.9p. The awards vested in March of this year, with the directors able to reap 100% of the bonus after the company hit its financial targets last year.

Chief executive officer Carolyn McCall on Wednesday exercised 130,000 awards and then sold the lot at a price of 1,542.7p for a total of £2.01m, leaving her with a holding of 232,800 shares.

Chief financial officer Chris Kennedy also exercised 150,000 awards and sold them at the same price for £2.31m.

The 100% vesting of the awards required Easyjet to achieve a return on capital employed (ROCE) of 12-13% in the financial year ended September 2013 of 12%. The company easily beat this target with a ROCE of 17.4%.

Earlier in the week, Easyjet unveiled its annual results for the 12 months ended September 2014, during which it delivered record profits for the fourth year in a row.

Pre-tax profit jumped 21.5% to £581m on revenues that rose 6.3% to £4.53bn. The ROCE also improved by 31 basis points to 20.5%.



Top Director Buys

Hutchison China Meditech Ltd (HCM)
Director name: Mr Simon To
Amount purchased: 41,000 @ 1,350.00p
Value: £553,500

Record (REC)
Director name: Mr James Wood-Collins
Amount purchased: 78,326 @ 35.20p
Value: £27,571

Record (REC)
Director name: Mr Bob Noyen
Amount purchased: 78,326 @ 35.20p
Value: £27,571

Record (REC)
Director name: Mrs Leslie Hill
Amount purchased: 78,326 @ 35.20p
Value: £27,571

DCC (DCC)
Director name: Mr Tommy Breen
Amount purchased: 744 @ 3,353.00p
Value: £24,946

Record (REC)
Director name: Mr Steve Cullen
Amount purchased: 64,163 @ 35.20p
Value: £22,585


Top Director Sells

easyJet (EZJ)
Director name: Mr Chris Kennedy
Amount sold: 150,000 @ 1,542.70p
Value: £2,314,050

easyJet (EZJ)
Director name: Ms Carolyn McCall
Amount sold: 130,000 @ 1,542.70p
Value: £2,005,510

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