Hill & Smith Share News (HILS)

Daniel Dayan, who was appointed a non-executive director of Stobart Group in July, has bought 40,000 shares following the release of the transport group's interim figures last week. Dayan held no shares before this purchase. Stobart reported an increase in pre-tax profits from £11m to £12.4m in the six months to August 2009. Revenues improved from £199m to £218m. New contracts have been won with Tesco and Nestle. Stobart chief executive Andrew Tinkler has separately revealed that he has pledged 7.3m of his shares as security for a loan. He owns 30.5m shares, equivalent to 12.15% of Stobart.Chief operating officer William Stobart has pledged 2.7m of his shares in security for a loan. He owns 11.1m shares, or 4.42% of the issued capital. Top Director Buysdesigncapital (DESC) Director name: Mr Philippe HerveAmount purchased: 442,926 @ 13.00p Value: £57,580Stobart Group (STOB) Director name: Mr Daniel DayanAmount purchased: 40,000 @ 125.46p Value: £50,200African Aura Mining (AAAM) Director name: Mr Guido (Guy) E PasAmount purchased: 45,000 @ 78.00p Value: £35,100Inland (INL) Director name: Mr Stephen Desmond WicksAmount purchased: 225,000 @ 14.00p Value: £31,500Portmeirion (PMP) Director name: Mr B.W.J. PhillipsAmount purchased: 10,000 @ 280.00p Value: £28,000Gleeson (M J) Group (GLE) Director name: Mr Nicholas Christopher HoltAmount purchased: 18,151 @ 109.00p Value: £19,785Hill and Smith (HILS) Director name: Mr Clive SnowdonAmount purchased: 5,000 @ 330.00p Value: £16,500Money Debt & Credit Group (MDCG) Director name: Mr Simon JohnsonAmount purchased: 369,415 @ 4.30p Value: £15,885