Paysafe Group Share News (PAYS)

(ShareCast News) - As shares in Paysafe and NCC Group took a hammering, directors in both FTSE 250 companies upped their skin in the game.On Monday, Paysafe's chief financial officer, Brian McArthur-Muscroft, exercised options over 516,844 ordinary shares at 0.01p each that were awarded to him under the company's long-term incentive plan.He sold 243,778 shares on the open market at 371.85p each, which was said to satisfy tax and national insurance obligations and the option cost of the exercise, and kept the remaining 273,066.At close on Monday these were worth roughly £1m, just before midday on Tuesday these shares were worth around a third less after traders began reading a blogged note by anonymous short seller Spotlight Research that highlighted what it saw as material risks from potential regulatory action.The short seller alleged that the Paysafe's largest customer, most likely to be Bet365 and which represents around 50% of its earnings, was operating a business that appears to facilitate and engage in illegal gambling in China.Paysafe pointed out that not only did Spotlight, which has disclosed a short position, stand to gain from a fall in Paysafe shares, but that all material information in the report "is either factually inaccurate or has been previously disclosed".It added that it "has a history of significant, transparent disclosure to the market, publishing two prospectuses in 2015 and being subject to substantial additional scrutiny through a full UKLA listing process as part of its move to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange".By late afternoon on Tuesday, Paysafe's share price had crawled back up to 310p, yanking McArthur-Muscroft's holding back up above £820,000.Meanwhile, two directors of NCC Group, which was architect of its own share price fall as it issued a profit warning, showed their confidence in the cybersecurity company.Chief executive Rob Cotton bought 125,000 shares and chairman Paul Mitchell 50,000, both at a price of 191p, to spend a total of £0.33m.NCC said that for the year to end-May 2017, it now expected adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation would be £45.5-47.5m, down from previous expectations.Cotton confessed that the gap between expected EBITDA and actual EBITDA in the Assurance division in the first half, "has become too significant to fill in the second half" after three large unrelated contract cancellations in quick succession and another was deferred.He insisted that while the news was disappointing, the contract cancellations "do not reflect any structural change in our Assurance business"."The long-term outlook for our Assurance business is unchanged and we remain confident in the future prospects for both of our divisions." Top Director BuysHikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK)Director name: Darwazah,MazenAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 1,707.00pValue: £853,499.98Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK)Director name: Darwazah,SaidAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 1,707.00pValue: £853,499.98Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK)Director name: Al-Husry,AliAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 1,707.00pValue: £853,499.98Ncc Group (NCC)Director name: Cotton,Robert F CAmount purchased: 125,000 @ 191.00pValue: £238,750.00Ncc Group (NCC)Director name: Mitchell,PaulAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 191.00pValue: £95,500.00Inmarsat (ISAT)Director name: Bax,SimonAmount purchased: 4,500 @ 714.77pValue: £32,164.65Tricorn Group (TCN)Director name: Moss,AndrewAmount purchased: 200,000 @ 12.94pValue: £25,880.00Greencore Group (GNC)Director name: McSharry,Heather AnnAmount purchased: 5,000 @ 228.50pValue: £11,425.00Treatt (TET)Director name: Hope,Richard AndrewAmount purchased: 652 @ 276.00pValue: £1,799.52Treatt (TET)Director name: Reeve,DaemmonAmount purchased: 652 @ 276.00pValue: £1,799.52Softcat (SCT)Director name: Charlton,GrahamAmount purchased: 52 @ 293.05pValue: £152.39Zotefoams (ZTF)Director name: Stirling,DavidAmount purchased: 60 @ 250.00pValue: £150.00Zotefoams (ZTF)Director name: McGrath ,Gary Amount purchased: 60 @ 250.00pValue: £150.00Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT)Director name: Reynolds,MikeAmount purchased: 14 @ 975.14pValue: £136.52Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT)Director name: Burke,Dominic JamesAmount purchased: 14 @ 975.14pValue: £136.52Meggitt (MGGT)Director name: Young,Stephen GAmount purchased: 27 @ 473.90pValue: £127.95Meggitt (MGGT)Director name: Webb,DougAmount purchased: 26 @ 473.90pValue: £123.21Meggitt (MGGT)Director name: Green,Philip ErnestAmount purchased: 26 @ 473.90pValue: £123.21Top Director SellsPaysafe Group (PAYS)Director name: Muscroft,Brian D MAmount sold: 243,778 @ 371.85pValue: £906,488.47