Bwin.party non-exec makes double purchase

bwin.party digital entertainment announced Tuesday that one of its Non-Executive Directors has made two purchases following a report by the company admitting profits had suffered a sharp decline. Geoff Baldwin on Friday purchased 226,000 shares at 147.83p, followed by a further 74,000 on Monday at 148.02p. Together the transactions cost the director £443,631. The group said Friday that clean earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 17% year-on-year from €199.3m to 164.9m to reflect flat revenue, increased gaming taxes and compliance costs. The company was hit by the introduction of a 5.0% turnover tax on sports betting in its core market of Germany in July, though it said that the majority was passed on to customers. bwin.party registered a loss before tax of €23.5m for 2012, significantly lower than the €422.9m loss made in 2011, mainly due to a sharp decrease in impairment losses. Nevertheless, the final dividend was raised by 10% to 1.72p per share, bringing the total payout for 2012 to 3.44p per share, up from 3.12p previously.Top Director BuysObtala Resources (OBT) Director name: Mr Simon RollasonAmount purchased: 221,260 @ 903.00p Value: £1,997,978Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) Director name: Mr Geoff Baldwin Amount purchased: 226,000 @ 147.83p Value: £334,096Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) Director name: Mr Geoff Baldwin Amount purchased: 74,000 @ 148.02p Value: £109,535Alliance Trust (ATST)Director name: Mr Win RobbinsAmount purchased: 11,544 @ 430.60p Value: £49,708Consort Medical (CSRT) Director name: Mr Richard CottonAmount purchased: 3,894 @ 765.00p Value: £29,789PureCircle Ltd. (DI) (PURE) Director name: Mr William MitchellAmount purchased: 10,000 @ 252.00p Value: £25,200UBM (UBM) Director name: Dame Helen AlexanderAmount purchased: 2,000 @ 712.26p Value: £14,245Top Director SellsAbcam (ABC) Director name: Dr Jonathan MilnerAmount sold: 974,000 @ 450.50p Value: £4,387,870Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd (Singapore Reg) (JAR) Director name: Mr Benjamin KeswickAmount sold: 20,000 @ $65.58 Value: $1,311,684UBM (UBM) Director name: Mr Robert Gray Amount sold: 38,430 @ 710.88p Value: £273,191 Jardine Math.sr