Option gain for Xstrata's Davis

Xstrata chief executive Mick Davis has raised £7.76m from selling shares in the Switzerland-based mining giant. The shares came from exercising options and Davis made a profit of £5.9m on their disposal. This gain comes less than one month after he made a near-£8m gain on the sale of another set of options. That takes his total profit to just short of £14m. The latest share disposals occurred on 11 and 12 November at £10.26 a share. The options were acquired for £2.3911 a share. On the 19 October Davis took up options over 1m shares at a total cost of £2.2m. These shares were immediately sold for £10.19 a share, thereby raising at total of £10.19m. Davis still owns 2,378,658 shares in Xstrata. He acquired 891,396 at 210p a share in the Xstrata rights issue in March. That cost £1.33m. Davis has been on the board of Xstrata since 2002 and he was previously finance director of Billiton and executive chairman of the Ingwe Coal Corporation. Xstrata said its operating and financial performance in the third quarter remained strong. The company, which recently declined to pull the trigger on a possible takeover of rival Anglo American had a mixed spell on the production front. The company produced increased volumes of thermal and semi-soft coal, platinum group metals (PGMs), refined nickel, zinc in concentrate and lead compared to the third quarter of 2008. In contrast, ferrochrome production was down 20% year on year, as the company suspended production capacity in response to market conditions. Mined copper production was 10% lower in the third quarter than in the same period of 2008, as a result of lower grades which affected volumes at Alumbrera, Antamina and Ernest Henry. Following the third quarter production update broker FinnCap said that investors would be better off switching from Xstrata to one-time merger target Anglo American. FinnCap reckons that Anglo American has a higher quality asset portfolio and should be able to outperform Xstrata over the next six months, though the broker predicts that the strength of the South African rand and the Australian dollar may well continue to squeeze the margins of both companies. FinnCap also predicts that Xstrata will eventually return to the acquisition trail. There are rumours that Xstrata may reconsider a bid for Lonmin. Top Director BuysNorish (NSH) Director name: Mr Ted O'NeillAmount purchased: 150,316 @ 36.50p Value: £54,865BHP Billiton (BLT) Director name: Mr Alan BoeckmannAmount purchased: 750 @ 2,192.23p Value: £16,442Ceramic Fuel Cells (CFU) Director name: Mr Roy RoseAmount purchased: 100,000 @ 14.21p Value: £14,2103i Group (III) Director name: Mrs Baroness HoggAmount purchased: 8,000 @ 268.40p Value: £21,472Surgical Innovations (SUN) Director name: Professor Michael John McMahonAmount purchased: 1,100,000 @ 1.64p Value: £18,040Surgical Innovations (SUN) Director name: Mr Ray SimkinsAmount purchased: 1,100,000 @ 1.64p Value: £18,040Surgical Innovations (SUN) Director name: Mr Colin GlassAmount purchased: 1,100,000 @ 1.64p Value: £18,040Surgical Innovations (SUN) Director name: Mr Graham BowlandAmount purchased: 1,100,000 @ 1.64p Value: £18,040Surgical Innovations (SUN) Director name: Mr Douglas B LiversidgeAmount purchased: 1,100,000 @ 1.64p Value: £18,040Top Director SellsXstrata (XTA) Director name: Mr Michael DavisAmount sold: 755,910 @ 1,026.00p Value: £7,755,637Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) Director name: Mr Justin KingAmount sold: 521,914 @ 340.61p Value: £1,777,691Encore Oil (EO.) Director name: Mr Graham DoréAmount sold: 1,058,229 @ 14.62p Value: £154,713Banco Santander SA (BNC) Director name: Mr Francisco Luzon LopezAmount sold: 10,000 @ 1,033.93p Value: £103,393Banco Santander SA (BNC) Director name: Mr Francisco Luzon LopezAmount sold: 10,000 @ 1,043.83p Value: £104,383Banco Santander SA (BNC) Director name: Mr Francisco Luzon LopezAmount sold: 10,000 @ 1,030.35p Value: £103,035Banco Santander SA (BNC) Director name: Mr Francisco Luzon LopezAmount sold: 9,670 @ 1,045.64p Value: £101,113