Admiral Group Chairman trades in 100,000 shares

Alastair Lyons, the long-standing Chairman of Admiral Group, the non-life insurance giant, reduced his stake by 100,000 shares in the wake of a strong set of full year results. In a sale made on behalf of his wife, Lyons disposed of the shares at 1,314p each, shrinking his holding to 392,152 shares. The announcement was made Thursday, one day after the company cheered investors with news of a 20% increase in the total dividend, prompted by a 15% year-on-year increase in pre-tax profit, from £299m to £343m. Turnover climbed 1.0% from £2.19bn to £2.22bn, while earnings per share totalled 95.1p, up from 81.9p in 2011. The group made progress in most of its divisions, but posted a loss for its international price comparison businesses, albeit reduced from the previous year. The group's UK price comparison business, Confused.com, delivered a pre-tax profit of £18.2m - around £2.0m higher than 2011's result, on 7.0% higher revenue. Paul Walsh, who has been the Chief Executive Officer of Diageo since 2000, has continued to sells off his stake in the FTSE 100 drinks giant. The director this time disposed of 50,000 at 2,011.00p a time, generating a total of £1.0m. Walsh has made a number of signifcant sales in the past months, and prior to this transaction most recently traded in 75,000 shares at 1,935.00p a time. Top Director BuysPatagonia Gold (PGD) Director name: Mr Carlos MiguensAmount purchased: 13,117,333 @ 15.00p Value: £1,967,600Patagonia Gold (PGD) Director name: Mr William HumphriesAmount purchased: 1,500,000 @ 15.00p Value: £225,000Drax Group (DRX) Director name: Mr Melanie Gee Amount purchased: 7,900 @ 625.00p Value: £49,375Communisis (CMS) Director name: Mr Peter HicksonAmount purchased: 110,778 @ 40.00p Value: £44,311Rotork (ROR) Director name: Ms Sally James Amount purchased: 1,050 @ 2,957.00p Value: £31,048Total Produce (TOT) Director name: Mr Seamus TaaffeAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 51.85p Value: £25,925Telford Homes (TEF) Director name: Mr David DurantAmount purchased: 12,500 @ 200.00p Value: £25,000Intu Properties (INTU) Director name: Ms Adèle AndersonAmount purchased: 6,000 @ 332.76p Value: £19,966Top Director SellsAdmiral Group (ADM) Director name: Mr Alastair LyonsAmount sold: 100,000 @ 1,314.00p Value: £1,314,000Diageo (DGE) Director name: Mr Paul S WalshAmount sold: 50,000 @ 2,011.00p Value: £1,005,500Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) Director name: Mrs Vyvienne WadeAmount sold: 20,000 @ 814.30p Value: £162,860Hays (HAS) Director name: Mr Alistair R CoxAmount sold: 106,734 @ 99.72p Value: £106,435Telford Homes (TEF) Director name: Mr John FitzgeraldAmount sold: 12,500 @ 200.00p Value: £25,000