LONDON (ShareCast) - Ken Hydon, a non-executive director of Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket chain, has filled his trolley with £96,000-worth of shares, just a week after the retail giant issued a warning which said trading profit would be flat for the 2012-13 financial year.

Hydon, who is chairman of the firm's audit committee, bought up 30,000 shares at 320p each.

Tesco shares have nose-dived since the firm's post-Christmas statement revealed the company had not only suffered its worst festive period in two decades, but that UK sales were falling and hundreds of millions of pounds would need to be spent on improving UK stores.

The statement sent the chain's value plummeting by £5bn, although the stock has regained some ground after Warren Buffett, the legendary American investor, significantly boosted his stake in the supermarket giant from 3.6% to 5.1%.

Buffett made the purchase on January 12th through his investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway.

Masoud Alikhani, Executive Chairman of Berkeley Mineral Resources, the Zambia-focused minerals company, has dug deep and purchased 1.2 million shares in the firm at 3.89p each.

The move takes his stake in the company to over 20 million shares, equivalent to 2.03% of the issued share capital.

In recent weeks the company's share price has reversed the pattern of the past six months, gaining over 60% in the last four weeks.

In December the firm bought an option on stockpiles of copper tailings - the residue of mining activity which often become available for processing after a mine has closed - located in the Chingola area in the north of Zambia.

Speaking at the time, Alikhani said of the deal: "Zambia is already the world's third largest exporter of copper. Substantial long-term profits and cash-flow will accrue to us from the compelling economics of the resources BMR can acquire at Chingola.”

Top Director Buys

Tesco (TSCO)
Director name: Mr Ken J Hydon
Amount purchased: 30,000 @ 320.00p
Value: £96,000

Berkeley Mineral Resources (BMR)
Director name: Mr Masoud Alikhani
Amount purchased: 1,200,000 @ 3.89p
Value: £46,680


Top Director Sells

Polar Capital Holdings (POLR)
Director name: Mr B J D Ashford-Russell
Amount sold: 700,000 @ 190.00p
Value: £1,330,000

Mood Media Corp. (DI) (MM.)
Director name: Mr Justin Beckett
Amount sold: 49,800 @ 166.66p
Value: £82,997

NR

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