MDC.L Share News (MDC)

Easydate non-executive Martin Higginson has taken advantage of the recent strong trading statement from the online dating company to sell nearly all of his shares. At the beginning of October, Higginson exercised options over 398,600 shares. He did not own any shares before then and he has sold 398,000 shares at 95p each, raising £378,000. The company's broker Cenkos says that the share disposal, which came during a lock-in period following the flotation in June, was "in order to satisfy demand from a new institutional investor". No option price was mentioned in the announcement when Higginson took up his options but the presently exercisable options mentioned in the flotation prospectus cost 3p a share. Easydate raised £8.8m net from a placing at 60p a share, when it joined AIM. As well as the 600 remaining shares, Higginson still has options over 797,160 shares. Higginson is chief executive of AIM-quoted interactive gaming firm NetPlay TV. Higginson owns 7.86% of NetPlay TV, which is worth just over £1.6m at 7.38p a share.Easydate finance director Mark Doughty has bought 4,600 shares at 106p each. These are his first shares but he also holds options over 544,000 shares. In the first nine months of 2010, revenues grew at 30% a quarter thanks to higher marketing spending. Since floating, Easydate has acquired US rival Cupid for £4.4m. The growth figures exclude Cupid. Top Director BuysValue and Income Trust (VIN) Director name: Mr Matthew A OakeshottAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 169.00p Value: £84,500Taylor Wimpey (TW.) Director name: Mr Anthony J ReadingAmount purchased: 260,000 @ 25.27p Value: £65,702Taylor Wimpey (TW.) Director name: Mr Kevin S BeestonAmount purchased: 200,000 @ 25.08p Value: £50,160Taylor Wimpey (TW.) Director name: Ms Sheryl Palmer Amount purchased: 127,934 @ 25.08p Value: £32,086Dixons Retail (DXNS) Director name: Mr Andrew LynchAmount purchased: 100,000 @ 26.35p Value: £26,350Murray Income Trust (MUT) Director name: Mr David WoodsAmount purchased: 3,000 @ 604.50p Value: £18,135Media Corp. (MDC) Director name: Mr Justin DrummondAmount purchased: 500,000 @ 2.72p Value: £13,600Barratt Developments (BDEV) Director name: Mr Clive FentonAmount purchased: 13,523 @ 74.99p Value: £10,141Barratt Developments (BDEV) Director name: Mr Clive FentonAmount purchased: 13,497 @ 75.13p Value: £10,140Top Director SellsDiscovery Metals Ltd. (CDI) (DME) Director name: Mr Gordon GaltAmount sold: 308,211 @ 78.41p Value: £241,668Easydate (EZD) Director name: Mr Martin HigginsonAmount sold: 398,000 @ 95.00p Value: £378,100