Laura Ashley Deputy Chairman sells 400,000 shares

David Masters, Deputy Chairman of Laura Ashley, the fashion and homeware retailer, has sold off a chunk of shares at an average price of 23.5p each. Masters, who now holds one million shares, sold 406,250 for a total of £95,469. The sale was made on April 18th, just over a fortnight since the company reported a fall in pre-tax profit from £24.1m to £18.4m for the year ended January 28th. Earnings per share fell from 2.65p to 1.79p. Revenues remained stable year-on-year, rising just £0.9m to £285.9m.Internet sales grew by 10.4% to £35.3m, while sales from UK stores fell 1.5%. The firm recommended a final dividend of 1p per share, taking the total dividend for the year to 2p per share, up 0.5p on the previous year. During the past year the company has reduced its number of stores by six to 211. Top Director BuysRM (RM.) Director name: Mr Martyn RatcliffeAmount purchased: 600,000 @ 80.00p Value: £480,000Lo-Q (LOQ) Director name: Mr David GammonAmount purchased: 8,000 @ 285.00p Value: £22,800Top Director SellsSavills (SVS) Director name: Mr Jeremy C HelsbyAmount sold: 80,001 @ 349.00p Value: £279,203