New Thorntons Chairman buys a chunk of shares as profits climb

The new Chairman of Thorntons increased his stake in the High Street chocolatier by around a half on Monday, the same day that the company revealed a massive jump in profits in the first half.Paul Wilkinson purchased ome 310,000 shares in the company (equal to a 0.45% stake) at a price of 47p a share, costing him a total of £145,700.The sale boosted his interest in the company to 1.46%.Wilkinson, who was serving as a non-executive director since mid-2006, was appointed as the retailer's Chairman at the start of the month, replacing John von Spreckelsen who announced his intention to retire from the board back in September. Shares in Thorntons surged by nearly 11% on Monday as investors cheered the group's continued recovery trail and its cautiously optimistic outlook for the year. Revenues climbed 2.9% to £133.7m for the 28 weeks ended January 12th 2013 while profit before tax and exceptional items rose by 71% to £5.3m. Chief Executive Jonathan Hart said: "We have strong trading plans in place and exciting new products across all channels. We are confident in the actions we are taking but remain cautious given the continuing challenge of the economic climate."Whilst trading since the period end has been in line with our expectations, we look forward to our important spring trading seasons of Mothers' Day and Easter which will be key to the outcome of the full year." Top Director BuysThorntons (THT) Director name: Mr Paul N WilkinsonAmount purchased: 310,000 @ 47.00p Value: £145,700RSA Insurance Group (RSA) Director name: Mr Richard HoughtonAmount purchased: 100,000 @ 117.20p Value: £117,200Catco Reinsurance Opportunities Fund Ltd (DI) (CAT) Director name: Mr James KeyesAmount purchased: 100,000 @ $1.40 Value: $140,320Catco Reinsurance Opportunities Fund Ltd (DI) (CAT) Director name: Mr James KeyesAmount purchased: 100,000 @ $1.39 Value: $138,670RSA Insurance Group (RSA) Director name: Mr Edward LeaAmount purchased: 68,000 @ 118.80p Value: £80,784RSA Insurance Group (RSA) Director name: Mr Martin SciclunaAmount purchased: 42,012 @ 118.30p Value: £49,700Anglogold Ashanti Ltd. (AGD) Director name: Prof Wiseman NkuhluAmount purchased: 2,200 @ 1,671.33p Value: £36,769RSA Insurance Group (RSA) Director name: Mr Alastair Barbour Amount purchased: 20,891 @ 117.90p Value: £24,630STV Group (STVG) Director name: Mr Genevieve Shore Amount purchased: 10,499 @ 140.30p Value: £14,730Top Director SellsRGI International Ltd. (RGI) Director name: Mr Alan HibbertAmount sold: 600,000 @ $2.10 Value: $1,260,000RGI International Ltd. (RGI) Director name: Mr Yoram EvanAmount sold: 600,000 @ $2.10 Value: $1,260,000Spectris (SXS) Director name: Mr Roger StephensAmount sold: 46,126 @ 2,449.10p Value: £1,129,672Spectris (SXS) Director name: Mr James C WebsterAmount sold: 22,430 @ 2,380.31p Value: £533,904Pan African Resources (PAF) Director name: Mr Jan Petrus NelsonAmount sold: 135,600 @ 19.52p Value: £26,469