Halifax chief Nicholson sells 350,000 Lloyds shares

The head of Lloyds Banking Group's Halifax arm has sold more than 2.5m pounds of Lloyds shares as the state-backed bank prepares for reprivatisation.David Nicholson disposed of 350,000 shares at 73.34p each on September 2nd for £2.57m. When Nicholson sold his shares, they had gained 120% in the previous year and were close to a near-three year high of 76.4p reached on August 16th. Nicholson is not on the Lloyds board but he sits on the executive committee as Group Director of Halifax Community Bank. Lloyds declined to say how many shares he holds after the sale.Lloyds revealed Nicholson's share sale in a statement that otherwise listed share awards made to executives including 134,756 for Nicholson and 413,081 for Operations Director Mark Fisher.The government injected £20bn into Lloyds at the height of the crisis. The Treasury is preparing to start selling its 39% with Lloyds' shares hovering close to the taxpayer's average purchase price of 73.6p and well above the government's chosen measure of 61p.Lloyds acquired Halifax when it rescued HBOS in early 2009. It has kept the Halifax name and is running the bank as a "challenger" brand on the UK high street. Nicholson ran HBOS's branch network before the takeover by Lloyds.Meanwhile, Ishbel Macpherson, a Non-Executive Director of Veterinary pharmaceuticals group Dechra, nearly doubled her stake in the group with the purchase of 2,861 shares on Tuesday. Macpherson, who joined the company at the beginning of February, bought the shares at 693.50p a piece on the same day the company reported a 52.2% jump in total revenue. The results revealed that turnover from both continued and discontinued operations climbed from £440m to £522.4m, while underlying pre-tax profit rose from £32.9m to £44.6m. The underlying diluted earnings per share jumped from 32.27p to 38.71p. The dividend was boosted by 14.1% to 14p per share. The £19,841 purchase takes Macpherson's stake in the company to 5,848 shares.Top Director BuysSTV Group (STVG) Director name: Ms Margaret FordAmount purchased: 11,338 @ 219.00p Value: £24,830Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) Director name: Ms Ishbel MacphersonAmount purchased: 2,861 @ 693.50p Value: £19,841Cayenne Trust (TCT) Director name: Mr Richard AtkinsonAmount purchased: 11,000 @ 131.50p Value: £14,465Top Director SellsMichelmersh Brick Holdings (MBH) Director name: Mr Alan HardyAmount sold: 900,000 @ 39.00p Value: £351,000Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd. (Singapore) (DFI) Director name: Mr Michael KokAmount sold: 20,700 @ $10.17 Value: $210,546API Group (API) Director name: Mr Christopher Ian Charles SmithAmount sold: 250,000 @ 66.00p Value: £165,000AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI) (AZEM) Director name: Mr Mike PowellAmount sold: 26,567 @ 308.23p Value: £81,887